In Week 15 of the NFL Picks the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hope to join Dallas, Green Bay and Seattle as NFC division winners when they take on the hopeless Atlanta Falcons. Last week the Buccaneers had a chanced to win their division but came up short in a 28-14 loss to the Houston Texans. There isn’t any panic in Tampa Bay however as they own a two game lead over the New Orleans Saints with only three games left in the season. If the Bucs can wrap up their division they will become the fifth straight team to go from worst to first in the AFC South after finishing last season at 4-12 SU. It is expected that QB Jeff Garcia will return this week after missing two games with a lower back bruise. Last weeks replacement, Luke McCown, passed for 266 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions in last weeks loss. The Tampa offense couldn’t keep the Houston defense honest as the running game only chipped in for a total of 71 yards rushing. Sportsbook.com obviously doesn’t believe that Atlanta has a shot in this one as Tampa Bay is listed as a -12.5 favorite in this one.
The Falcons come into this one knowing that their head coach has bailed on them in addition to being out of the playoff picture at 3-10 SU overall. Last week the Falcons went to third string QB Chris Redman who made his first start in five years. Redman didn’t have a bad day as he threw for two touchdowns and a career-high 298 yards but could not prevent the Falcons from suffering their fourth straight loss. No only did the Falcon offense sputter but their defense did nothing to help the cause as they allowed 145 rushing yards overall while averaging 4.8 yards per carry. By contrast the Atlanta running game amassed an anemic 37 total yards. No wonder Redman never had a shot at winning.
All things seem to point to the Bucs as they are 4-0 SU & ATS versus NFC South rivals this season winning by an average score of 27.2-12.7. In addition the Falcons are 0-7 ATS over the L2 seasons versus offenses averaging over 5.65 yards per play. The Falcons are also 3-11 ATS in their L14 against teams with a winning record.
Tampa Bay has everything to gain with a win while Atlanta just can’t wait to get the season over. Where’s the motivation?
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