Teams have no say in the NFL schedule and all Week 17 matchups are divisional games. That said, the Saints lucked out this season in that they get to face the last-place, hugely disappointing Buccaneers while the very good Falcons and Panthers are tangling at the same time.  The Saints are at worst a wild-card team and will be division champions with a victory or Carolina loss.

NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis

New Orleans looks for the first season sweep of Tampa since 2014. In Week 9 in the Big Easy, the Saints were 7-point favourites and covered easily in a 30-10 victory. Drew Brees had perhaps his best game of the season with just five incompletions in 27 attempts with 263 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Rookie running back sensation Alvin Kamara had 10 rushes for 68 yards and a score with six catches for 84 yards and a touchdown. Tampa Bay quarterback Jameis Winston didn’t play in the second half due to shoulder soreness yet started a mini-fight regardless when he was out of the game.  The Bucs had just 200 yards offence.

New Orleans Saints

The Saints (11-4 SU, 9-6 ATS) are currently the fourth seed in the NFC and would host Carolina in the wild-card round as things stand. New Orleans beat Atlanta on Sunday, 23-13. One of the most unusual interceptions you will ever see occurred in that one as Saints cornerback Marshon Lattimore, a Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate, basically picked off a pass off his own rear end. That changed momentum in the game. Thanks in part to Lattimore, the Saints defence is light years better than it was a year ago. Brees completed 75 per cent of his passes for 239 yards and a touchdown, joining Brett Favre and Peyton Manning as the only quarterbacks to throw for at least 70,000 career yards. Brees will take over first place in that category next season, assuming he keeps playing.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Bucs (4-11 SU, 5-9-1 ATS) were thought to be a team on the rise after winning nine games last year but have regressed in several ways, and it’s likely to cost Coach Dirk Koetter his job. Reports are the team could bring back Jon Gruden, who still lives in Tampa, led the team to its only Super Bowl title and was enshrined in the team’s Ring of Honor in Week 15 during his Monday night broadcast of the game vs. Atlanta.

Tampa dropped a fifth straight game Sunday, 22-19 in Carolina. Seven of the team’s losses have been by six points or fewer, including the past four. Winston threw for 367 yards and a touchdown vs. the Panthers but was sacked six times and had three fumbles. Eight starters missed the game due to injury, including three offensive linemen.

Saints vs. Buccaneers Prediction