NFL Game Of The Week: Buccaneers Giving 5 Points To New Orleans

• The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have -230 odds to beat the New Orleans Saints in Week 8.
• The Buccaneers are 5-point favorites but the Saints beat the Buccaneers twice last season.

NEW ORLEANS – Week 8 marks the first of two meetings between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New Orleans Saints. The Buccaneers are going into the game as 5-point favorites, but have gone a shaky 3-4 against the spread this season.

The public seems to agree with where legal online betting sites listed the odds as the Buccaneers have taken in 98% of the handle and 97% of total bets early on the spread. Though those numbers are heavily leaning on Tampa Bay, there are some things to factor in before taking them to win.

Buccaneers ATS Struggle While Saints Hurdle

The Buccaneers are tied for the third-worst record against the spread this season at 3-4. This may come as a surprise considering their 6-1 record this season. In their spread record, the Buccaneers have also gone 0-3 ATS when playing on the road as well as when they are an away favorite.

As for the Saints, they have been put through the wringer this season having played just one home game so far due to difficulties caused by Hurricane Ida at the beginning of the season. Even with only one home game, the Saints have held their own against the spread at 3-3 and are 2-0 ATS when going into a game with underdog NFL odds.

Will History Repeat Itself?

Looking back to last season, the New Orleans Saints defeated Tom Brady and the Buccaneers in both regular-season meetings. Their first win came in Week 1 with a 34-24 score. In that game, the Saints defense kept Brady in check for his second-lowest QBR of the season (33.1) as he went 23-36 for 239 passing yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions.

Fast track to their second meeting in Week 9, the Saints saw even more dominance with three interceptions forcing Brady to a 57.9% completion rate and a 4.3 QBR in a blowout 38-3 win.

This year, the Saints defense has not changed much, letting up the third-least amount of points per game (16.8), third-least rushing yards per game (80), and are top-ten in fewest total yards allowed (331.5).

All in all, the Bucs might be favored, but this game will not come easy for them.

News tags: AFC South | football | New Orleans Saints | NFL | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Tom Brady