NFL Betting - New Orleans Saints vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The battles in the NFC South are starting to heat up as the NFL betting season winds down, and BetUS will have all of the action for sports betting fans for Sunday’s match-up between the New Orleans Saints (6-5, 7-4 ATS) and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-3, 7-4 ATS) from Raymond James Stadium.
The Saints took the first game between these teams this season, beating the Bucs 24-20 in Week 1 in New Orleans. Tampa Bay swept the season series last year, knocking off New Orleans 31-14 in Tampa Bay and 27-23 at the Superdome. Though New Orleans can’t catch Tampa Bay in the NFC South standings this week, a loss would be fatal in its quest to capture its second divisional championship in three years.
The Saints continued its offensive dominance of the NFL on Monday night by beating the Packers 51-29. QB Drew Brees continued his record-setting pace for passing yards against Green Bay, completing 20 of 26 passes for 323 yards and four touchdowns. He is on pace for just short of 5,200 yards this year, which would break Dan Marino’s all-time record.
RB Pierre Thomas has quietly put together strong games in relief of RBs Deuce McAllister and Reggie Bush. Thomas notched 120 yards from scrimmage with two scores on 18 touches. The Saints rank first in the league in total yards (411.9) and passing yards (319.5), and are fourth in the NFL in points per game (28.8). Last week marked the third win for ‘over’ bettors in New Orleans last four games.
The road hadn’t been kind to Tampa Bay bettors going into last week’s clash with the Lions in the “Motor City.” The Bucs were just 1-4 SU and 2-3 ATS in five games, and had very lackluster starts in all of their road trips. Last weekend was no exception, as Tampa Bay spotted Detroit 17 points before turning up the heat and outscoring the Lions 38-3 to earn the 38-20 road win and cover.
QB Jeff Garcia had a prototypical Tampa Bay quarterback game, completing 13 of 18 passes for 165 yards and two scores. RB Carnell “Cadillac” Williams saw his first action in over a year, but only managed 27 yards on 16 carries. RB Warrick Dunn picked up the slack, rushing for 90 yards and a TD on 14 carries. This should be a fantastic match-up with Brees and the passing attack, as the Bucs rank second in the NFL allowing just 174.6 passing yards allowed per game.
Oddsmakers have installed the host Bucs as 3.5-point favorites on the football betting line, with the ‘total’ being set at 47.5.
Consider adding the ‘over’ to your NFL betting card this weekend. ‘Over’ bettors are 12-3-1 in New Orleans’ L/16 games overall and 21-8-1 in its L/30 games against the NFC. The L/6 meetings between these two divisional rivals surpassed the ‘total’ as well. The NFL betting trends lean towards the Saints as well, as the underdog is 9-4 ATS in the L/13 battles between these teams.
Whether you prefer betting on sides, ‘totals’, or moneylines, BetUS has all of the NFL betting action covered from now through the Super Bowl, so login to your account right now and get in the middle of all of the action!