The Tampa Bay Buccaneers headed to their bye week looking for answers on how to turn their sinking season around. However, they emerged from the two-week layoff only to discover another way to lose, as Minnesota Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr recovered a fumble and ran for a touchdown in overtime to hand Tampa Bay a 19-13 defeat, the Bucs’ sixth of the season. The Cleveland Browns, on the other hand, prevented another humiliating loss against a winless team after subduing the Oakland Raiders, 23-13.
Will the Bucs stop their skid? Or will the Browns fail to capitalize on another chance against a sub-.200 team?
Don’t miss our previews of every game on the Week 9 schedule, including that of Ravens vs. Steelers and Jets vs. Chiefs.
[sc:Football ]Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Cleveland Browns Betting Preview and Prediction
Where: FirstEnergy Stadium, Cleveland
When: Sunday, November 2, 1:00 PM ET
Line: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+6.5) at Cleveland Browns (-6.5); total: 44.0 – see all NFL lines
Betting on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
[sc:NFL240banner ]It’s easy to see why the Bucs suck so much. They’re 28th in the league in passing yards (208.7 per game), 29th in rushing yards (86.4), 30th in passing defense (286.0 allowed per game), and 23rd in rushing defense (123.9). On top of all of these, the Bucs may have a quarterback dilemma to tackle before their scheduled match against Cleveland.
Original quarterback starter Josh McCown (thumb) is now healthy enough for coach Lovi Smith to start him over backup Mike Glennon, who has been ineffective as McCown’s replacement. In five games played this season, Glennon has thrown for 1,157 yards (100 of 170 passing) and eight touchdowns for an 85.3 passer rating.
But in fairness to Glennon, any quarterback with such a horrendous offensive line will have a hard time finding his rhythm. Glennon has now been sacked 10 times over the Bucs’ last two games. Failure to protect Glennon/McCown spoils every opportunity to maximize the talent and size of the Bucs’ tall wideouts in Vincent Jackson (357 receiving yards, 2 TDs) and Mike Evans (336, 2 TDs). Both wide receivers stand 6′ 5″, which means they could easily out-jump the Browns starting cornerback duo of Joe Haden (5′ 11″) and Buster Skrine (5′ 9″).
The defense against the rush, though, could be the Bucs’ X-factor against the bull-rushing Browns. That means linebacker Lavonte David should have a busy day hunting for bodies in the Cleveland’s backfield. David is the league’s leader in stuffs (9) and second overall in stuff yards (26).
The Bucs are 2-5 ATS in seven games this season.
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Betting on the Cleveland Browns
The Browns looked bad in their loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 7. They also didn’t look pretty even in their win Sunday over the Oakland Raiders. But at least the Browns are back on track and have Tampa Bay, another struggling team, to face at home this coming weekend. The Browns are 3-1 SU/ATS in their last four games at FirstEnergy Stadium.
The running game, which was supposed to be the Browns’ outstanding strength, was absent over Cleveland’s last two outings. After rushing for just 69 yards against Jacksonville, the Browns could only muster 39 in Week 8. Ben Tate and Terrance West, the top two options in the team’s backfield, combined for 81 yards on the ground on 43 carries during that stretch. This puts pressure on Brian Hoyer, who’ll have to continue diverting opposing defenses’ attentions in order to make more room for the backfield to run.
Hoyer played great against Oakland, completing 19 of 28 passes for 275 yards and a TD and without an interception. However, Hoyer will have to operate probably minus one primary target in tight end Jordan Cameron (250 receiving yards, 1 TD), who suffered a concussion against Oakland.
Cleveland ranks 30th in the league with 143.4 rushing yards allowed per game, which should be music to the ears of Buccaneers top backs Bobby Rainey and Doug Martin. Looking to stop them on their tracks are Karlos Dansby and Donte Whitner, the Browns’ leaders in tackles with 56 and 50, respectively.
Writer’s Prediction
Cleveland wins 27-19, covering -6.5.
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