Two NFC South teams with high-scoring offenses and pathetic defenses will meet this coming weekend when the Atlanta Falcons and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers square off in the season finale. Will the Falcons sweep their regular season series against the Bucs? Or will Tampa Bay win their sixth game of the season – one more than what they finished with a year ago? The sportsbook predicts a close one, giving the home team a slight edge at 1.5-points.
While it’s been an immensely disappointing season for the Falcons, the talent on their offense can’t be denied. In last Sunday’s 24-10 road win over the Carolina Panthers, Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan threw for 239 passing yards and three touchdowns with zero interceptions on 15-of-26 completions. Even with Julio Jones only recording 28 receiving yards with a touchdown on four catches, he didn’t need to do much with the likes of Calvin Ridley and Mohamed Sanu putting on a show. Ridley had 90 receiving yards and a score on three catches, while Sanu had 81 receiving yards and a touchdown on five receptions. Ryan and his receivers should have a field day torching Tampa Bay’s defense that they have torched earlier this season. In Week 6’s 34-29 home win over the Bucs, Ryan went off for 355 passing yards and three touchdowns without an error, while Jones broke out with 144 receiving yards on 10 catches.
The under is 3-1 in the Falcons’ last three road games.
Betting on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-10)
The Bucs’ saw their losing streak extend to three games in Week 16, as they lost to the Dallas Cowboy in Arlington last Sunday, 27-20. Nevertheless, Jameis Winston had a decent performance in the loss, passing for 336 yards and a touchdown on 34-of-48 completions. It’s a passable outing opposite a usually stingy pass defense of the Cowboys. This coming Sunday, though, Winston could feast on the Falcons’ faulty stop unit against the pass. Atlanta is 24th in the NFL in passing defense with 254.1 passing yards allowed per game. The Falcons are also 29th in opponents’ pass completion percentage with a 68.36 percent clip. In addition to those numbers, the Falcons are also 25th scoring defense (26.1) and 26th in total defense (381.3). Winston took advantage of that soft defense in the first meeting this season with Atlanta in which he had 395 passing yards and four touchdowns against two interceptions.
The Buccaneers are 5-4-1 against the spread (ATS) in their last 10 home games against Atlanta.
