Tampa Bay Buccaneers at New Orleans Saints, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA
Sunday, January 2, 2011, 1:00 pm EST, TV: FOX
Opening Line: Saints -8
Current Line: Saints -7.5
Opening Total: 48
Current Total: 47.5
Money Line: Saints -350 / Bucs +290
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-6) have enjoyed a fine rebound season but will need a lot of help on Sunday, starting with a difficult road victory against the playoff-bound New Orleans Saints (11-4). The defending Super Bowl champion Saints (-7.5) qualified for the postseason with a 17-14 victory at Atlanta on Monday night and can still win the NFC West with a victory here and a loss by the Falcons at home to Carolina.
The scenario is even more complicated for the Bucs, who handed New Orleans a 20-17 overtime loss at the Superdome during a three-game skid at the end of last season. Tampa Bay needs to have Green Bay and the New York Giants both lose while beating the Saints to get into the playoffs as the #6 seed in the NFC. New Orleans can do no worse than the #5 seed and will likely travel to either St. Louis or Seattle next week unless the team wins and Atlanta loses.
The Saints have played only one home game since Week 11, going 2-3 against the spread in their last five overall despite a 4-1 straight-up mark during that stretch. The Buccaneers suffered a 31-6 home loss to New Orleans in Week 6 and own an 0-5 record against teams with winning records this year. They have been outscored 141-74 in those five games and hope to get to reigning Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees this time around.
Brees was not sacked in the first meeting, throwing for 263 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. He earned a Pro Bowl nod for the NFC on Wednesday despite throwing the second-most picks in the NFL this season (21), including two in the fourth quarter against the Falcons on Monday. Brees has thrown at least one interception in 11 straight games. He could be without leading receiver Marques Colston, who underwent knee surgery on Tuesday.
Tampa Bay bounced back from a 23-20 overtime loss to Detroit with a 38-15 rout of the Seahawks at home last week behind second-year quarterback Josh Freeman’s career-high five touchdown passes. Freeman completed 21 of 26 passes for 237 yards and no picks while rookie running back LeGarrette Blounted rushed for a career-high 164 yards on 18 carries.
The Bucs are an impressive 6-0-1 ATS on the road this season, going 5-2 SU in those games. The UNDER has cashed in Tampa’s last three away from home after going OVER in the previous three. The UNDER is also 4-0 in the last four meetings with the Saints after going 6-0 in the previous six games between the teams.
Now that you have read this football betting preview featuring the Saints & Bucs, check out the NFL odds on this and all the games to compare the best lines at multiple sportsbooks.
