Buccaneers vs. Falcons Point Spread: NFL Week 5 Odds, Prediction
Atlanta opened as 2.5-point favourites to win on the NFL odds.
NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis
Before the season, the NFC South was the betting favourite to have the fewest total wins of any division in the NFL this season. That made sense considering the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the 2023 title with only a 9-8 record and the South also housed the league’s worst team by far in two-win Carolina.
But the division looks a little better than expected this year with the Bucs atop the South at 3-1, and Atlanta and New Orleans tied for second at 2-2. Yeah, Carolina (1-3) is terrible again. The Falcons currently are the +160 betting favourites with the Bucs at +200. It’s the first division game of the year for Tampa Bay.
The teams split two close meetings last season, with the Falcons losing 29-25 at home when Desmond Ridder was the team’s starting QB – he was traded this offseason once the team signed free agent Kirk Cousins. Ridder had arguably the best game of his career with a TD run and pass, but Tampa Bay’s Baker Mayfield hit tight end Cade Otton on an 11-yard TD pass with 31 seconds left for the winning score. Mayfield threw two TD passes overall and also rushed for one.
Tampa Bay now leads the all-time series 31-30. They play again in Tampa in Week 8.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
As puzzlingly bad as the Buccaneers looked at home in a loss to Denver in Week 3 was how good they looked on Sunday in routing short-handed Philadelphia, 33-16. Baker Mayfield threw for 347 yards and two scores and rushed for another touchdown. It was the first time in his NFL career that Mayfield had multiple passing TDs and a rushing score in a game. He now has a league-high five games with 300 passing yards and two passing TDs since Week 15 last year, including playoffs.
Wideout Mike Evans caught a TD pass to become the franchise’s all-time leading scorer with 596 points. All-Pro safety Antoine Winfield Jr. (foot), right tackle Luke Goedeke (concussion) and defensive lineman Calijah Kancey (calf) were inactive. Linebacker SirVocea Dennis (shoulder) left in the second quarter and did not return. The Bucs are 9-2 ATS in their past 11 on the road.
Atlanta Falcons
Atlanta played its first NFC South game on Sunday and beat visiting New Orleans 26-24 on Younghoe Koo’s 58-yard field goal with two seconds remaining. It was his eighth game-winning kick in the final 10 seconds since the beginning of the 2021 season — the most in the league during that span. A pass interference call on New Orleans got the Falcons into field-goal position.
They won without an offensive touchdown (one on special teams, one defensively) as that unit continues to be inconsistent under new QB Kirk Cousins. It was the first time since Sept. 26, 2004, that Atlanta won a game without scoring an offensive TD. Cousins now has 29 game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime since he became a full-time starter in 2015, which is second in the league during that span. The Falcons are 2-8 ATS in their past 10 at home.
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