New Orleans Saints vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers Betting Picks, Lines, Odds,& Predictions
Tom Brady and Drew Brees will face off for the second time this season as the Saints (5-2 SU, 2-5 ATS) travel to Tampa to take on the Buccaneers (6-2 SU, 4-4 ATS) in this week’s edition of Sunday Night Football. The first game went the New Orleans way and the Bucs will be looking for revenge that will leave them at the top of the NFC South.
New Orleans Saints vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers Betting Line Movement
Tampa Bay opened as -4 favorites, a line that has attracted a lot of early money driving it to -5.5 before dropping again and settling at 4.5. The total line was even more volatile as it opened at 55 and dropped all the way to 50.5.
Notes On The New Orleans Saints
The Saints notched their fourth consecutive victory last week at Chicago, but all of them were won by tight margins. Two of the games, the Bears and the Chargers, went to overtime and New Orleans has now failed to cover the spread in five of their last six games. They are steadily improving but still are far away from being the force. In the first meeting between the two New Orleans had issues moving the ball against the Buccaneers’ defense and only had 271 total yards of offense. They will have to find a way to get through maybe the best defensive side in the league if they are to catch up with their rivals at the top of the division.
The good news for the Bucs is that Drew Brees is starting to look like his old self after a slower start to the season. He had a more than a decent game in Chicago, considering that he was without two of his favorite targets, throwing for 280 yards and two touchdowns. Chicago’s defense is tough, but Tampa’s is even tougher, so he’ll have to raise his game again in order to put up good numbers. Alvin Kamara hasn’t set the world on fire with his running lately, but he makes up for it with catches. He now has eight or more in the last three games, and we can expect this trend to continue, especially if Michael Thomas is out again.
Notes On The Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Buccaneers are coming from the win against the Giants on Monday that they had to work a lot harder for than expected. They are also coming off a win against the Raiders. It also means that they are playing on a short week and one extra day for recovery and preparation can mean a lot in games this big. A lot has changed since Week 1 and the defeat to the Saints and the Bucs are now humming on both sides of the ball. They rank among the top 10 in almost every defensive and offensive department except the rushing offense which ranks 23rd. Tom Brady is back to his top form and looks absolutely comfortable within Bruce Arians’ system. The defense is dominating and has three fumble recoveries and eleven interceptions this season. In fact, the only game without forcing a single takeaway is the opening day loss to New Orleans.
Tom Brady had a forgettable game in Week 1 even throwing a pick-six but since then he tallied 20 touchdowns and only 3 interceptions. His bounty of weapons gets even stronger this week as WR Antonio Brown is eligible to play. Brown only had a few practices with the team so perhaps it’s the best to wait and see how rusty he is, although in Chris Godwin’s absence he’ll get his fair share of targets from the get-go.
New Orleans Saints vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers Betting Pick = Over 50.5
The first game between the NFC South went well over this line with 57 points and it was before Tampa Bay’s offense became the juggernaut it is now. Drew Brees will also be super motivated to put up points in what is, or at least statistically, the greatest QB matchup of all time.
