Seattle Seahawks at Tampa Bay Buccaneers Odds
While the Seattle Seahawks (6-8) enter Sunday’s contest with two fewer wins than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-6), they are the team with the better playoff chances.
The Seahawks find themselves tied with St. Louis for first place in the NFC West. If Seattle can take care of business, and get a little held from San Francisco against the Rams, it could take over sole possession of first heading into the final week of the season.
Despite being two games over .500, the Buccaneers’ playoff hopes don’t look nearly as promising. Division rival New Orleans, who sits at 10-4, appears poised to grab one of the NFC wild card slots. A matchup between Green Bay (8-6) and the New York Giants (9-5) could go a long way in determining the other.
The Bucs missed a golden opportunity to help their cause against Detroit last week, falling 23-20 in overtime. NFL odds makers do expect Tampa Bay to bounce back Sunday, listing the Buccaneers as 6-point favorites with the total set at 44.
Coach Raheem Morris second guessed his decision to run the football in a red zone situation late in the game last week. “That’s the time you’ve got to fall back and go with your head-coach mentality and say, ‘I’ll win this thing with 5 (Freeman),’” Morris said.
Instead, Morris decided to take the conservative approach. With the game tied at 17-17, the Bucs called two running plays for Cadillac Williams that gained just three yards. On third down, Tampa Bay dialed up a quarterback counter play that the Lions were able to contain. The Bucs walked away with a field goal and a three point lead, but the defense allowed the Lions to drive 58 yards for a game-tying kick to send the game into overtime.
Maybe next time Morris will show a little more faith in his young quarterback. After all, Josh Freeman has only been picked off once in his last 142 attempts. Don’t be surprised if Morris puts the game in Freeman’s hands this week. After all, the Seahawks have one of the worst pass defenses in the NFL. They rank 29th in the league at 259.0 yards per game allowed.
Seattle is just 3-12 against the spread in road games over the last two seasons.
Despite getting benched in last week’s 34-18 loss to Atlanta, Matt Hasselbeck is expected to get the starting nod Sunday. Seahawks coach Pete Carroll believes Hasselbeck still gives the team the best opportunity to win.
“We’re going with Matt,” Carroll said. “Matt’s been our quarterback. He’s the guy that’s given us a chance all throughout, and gives us our best chance to finish off right. And I’m excited in that sense that he’s going to pull this thing together with us.
The three-time Pro Bowler has not looked much like it lately, turning the ball over 10 times in the last three games. In what is basically a must-win game, don’t be surprised if Carroll has a short leash.
While Seattle has struggled on the road, consider the problems Tampa Bay has had at home. Under Morris, the Bucs are just 2-11 against the spread on their home field.
