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Jeremy Perry
Bengals vs. Buccaneers Point Spread: NFL Week 15 Odds, Prediction
After starting the year 2-3, the Cincinnati Bengals have been on a tear. They’ve won five straight games and seven out of their last eight coming into Sunday’s date with Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tampa Bay has had no answer for its struggles on offence. They’ve lost two out of their last three, including a 35-7 blowout defeat to the San Francisco 49ers and Mr. Irrelevant, Brock Purdy. Can the greatest quarterback of all-time take down Joe Burrow and the Bengals at home or will Brady’s offence sputter again?
The Bengals are 3.5-point favourites to win on the NFL odds.
NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis
Cincinnati is 8-1 ATS in their past nine games played on grass and 14-3 ATS in their last 17 matchups when coming off of a straight up win in their previous outing. When it comes to the total, the under has hit with a 10-2-1 record in their last 13 matchups played following a straight-up win. The under has also hit in four out of their last five December contests.
As for the Buccaneers, they’re 1-6-1 ATS in their last eight games played at home and 1-9-1 ATS in their past 11 games overall. They’re also 0-10-1 ATS in their past 11 games played on grass. Slightly similar to the Bengals, Tampa Bay has helped the under go 4-1 in their past five home games and 6-2 in their last eight games played on grass.
Cincinnati Bengals
It seems as though the Bengals have completely turned their fortunes around after a mediocre start to the year. Much of that can be contributed to them suffering from a Super Bowl hangover. More recently, though, Burrow is right in the middle of one of the best stretches of play he’s put together in the NFL. Since Week 6, Burrow has the sixth-best quarterback rating in the league and has 18 touchdowns compared to just four interceptions. It’s also worth mentioning that all four of those interceptions were either deflected or picked by a defensive lineman.
Burrow is trying his best to avoid any comparison to the great Tom Brady as he gets ready to battle with him. However, the rest of his team certainly talks about how incredible their signal-caller has been this year. The key to this one might only be about 17 or 20 points. The Bengals’ offence is humming while the Bucs’ offence is labouring. The Bengals just have to make sure they don’t help out by making any mistakes.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
When Brady announced that he would be returning to the Buccaneers in the offseason, there was a growing amount of excitement. The expectation was that it was once again Super Bowl or bust. While those plans are still technically in play, the team is 6-7 on the year. Brady has been decent statistically but he’s missed a variety of throws that he usually makes. Much of that might be contributed to the offensive line and how many key parts they’re missing. The running game hasn’t brought much balance either.
The Bucs still have a strong defence that is 10th in the NFL in points allowed per game at 19.5. Allowing anymore this week would likely spell trouble given how the offence is performing.
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