New Orleans Saints at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL
Sunday, October 17, 2010, 1:00 pm EST, TV: FOX
Opening Line: Saints -6.5
Current Line: Saints -4
Opening Total: 46
Current Total: 43
Money Line: Saints -205 / Bucs +175
Few people would have expected to find the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-1) with a better record than the defending Super Bowl champions at this point of the season. But that is exactly the case for the favored New Orleans Saints (3-2) heading into their divisional road game at Tampa Bay on Sunday.
New Orleans (-4) is coming off a surprising 30-20 loss at Arizona last week and will try to avoid another disappointing setback against a team that won the last meeting toward the end of last season. The Bucs shocked the Saints last year in Week 15, pulling out a 20-17 victory in overtime when kicker Connor Barth hit a 47-yard field goal. Tampa had rallied back from a 17-3 halftime deficit by scoring two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to tie the game in regulation.
The NFC’s highest scoring offense from a year ago has not totaled more than 25 points in any game this season, failing to cover the spread in each of the last four. New Orleans has lacked any semblance of a running game since losing Reggie Bush in a 25-22 win at San Francisco a little less than four weeks ago. Bush fractured his leg in that game while starting running back Pierre Thomas has also missed time since then due to a sprained left ankle. The Saints signed former Seattle and Dallas running back Julius Jones on Tuesday to add some more depth.
The lack of a balanced offense has certainly hurt the Saints, who have scored only 10 touchdowns through five games after totaling 22 at this point last season. Quarterback Drew Brees has also suffered, throwing five interceptions in the last three games while averaging almost 40 pass attempts per game.
The Buccaneers hope to take advantage of that weakness since they have forced 12 turnovers this year, including nine interceptions. They rank last in the NFC in run defense – giving up 143.2 rushing yards per game – but that may not matter if New Orleans does not choose to run the ball.
Offensively, Tampa has relied on the young arm of second-year quarterback Josh Freeman and the hands of rookie wide receiver Mike Williams. Freeman completed 20 of 33 passes for 280 yards and the game-tying touchdown pass to Williams last week en route to a 24-21 upset win at Cincinnati. Williams ended up making a career-high seven catches for 99 yards.
The Bucs have won four of the last six meetings with the Saints straight-up but have not covered three of the last four. The UNDER has cashed in each of the last three games between the teams.
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