Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Atlanta Falcons Line
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-11) will try to avoid a 10th straight loss when they visit the Atlanta Falcons (9-6) Sunday.
Odds makers believe the Buccaneers’ misery will continue and have listed them as a 12-point underdog with the total set at 46.5.
Tampa Bay was embarrassed 48-16 by the Carolina Panthers last Saturday. Josh Freeman completed 28 of 38 passes for 272 yards with one touchdown and one interception in the loss. He also rushed for a score and lost a fumble.
Kellen Winslow led the team in receiving with six catches for 63 yards.
Kregg Lumpkin led the team in rushing with just 24 yards on seven carries.
The Falcons, who are coming off a 45-16 loss to the New Orleans Saints, may have some incentive to win this week despite having already clinched a playoff berth.
The Saints will enter the playoffs as the No. 3 seed in the NFC if they lose to the Carolina Panthers or the San Francisco 49ers take care of business against the St. Louis Rams.
The No. 6 seed, which is currently the Falcons, will play the No. 3 seed in the first round of the playoffs. With this in mind, the Falcons will have to win and have the Detroit Lions lose to avoid a possible rematch with New Orleans.
Monday’s loss to the Saints can’t be blamed on Matt Ryan, who completed 34 of 52 passes for 373 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. Eight completions, including the touchdown toss, went to Julio Jones, who led the team with 128 receiving yards.
Michael Turner led the team in rushing with 39 yards on 11 carries.
The Falcons have won five of the last six in this series, but the Bucs won the most recent meeting 16-13 on Sept. 25. It is worth noting that five of the last six meetings have been decided by six points or less.
The Falcons are 6-0 against the spread after a loss by 10 points or more over the last three seasons but 0-9 against the number in home games following a loss by 28 points or more since 1992.
As far as the total is concerned, the under has been the play. These two have finished under the number in five of the last seven matchups.
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