Falcons vs. Bucs Spread Prediction
Losers of three straight games, will the Atlanta Falcons rebound with a victory over NFC South rivals the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 1:00 p.m. ET on Sunday?
Game Snapshot
263 Tampa Bay Bucs at 264 Atlanta Falcons
1:00 p.m. ET, Sunday, October 14
Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia
Public Betting Trends
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetNow.eu, the Falcons are 3-point favorites to beat the Bucs. The total, meanwhile, sits at 57.5 points. As of this writing, 67% of the public betting tickets are on the Falcons to cover the point spread.
Tampa Bay Bucs
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports O.J. Howard (knee) is expected to play Week 6 against the Falcons. Howard was initially expected to miss a couple of games after suffering a sprained MCL in Week 4, but he is ready to go coming out of the bye week. He might be limited, but Howard will be tough to sit considering the landscape at tight end. With Howard back, Cameron Brate is more of a desperation option.
Atlanta Falcons
Falcons DT Grady Jarrett (ankle) is out for Week 6 against the Bucs. The only positive to takeaway from this is that, unlike last week, Jarrett at least made it to Friday before being ruled out. Through the first four weeks, Jarrett was quietly Pro Football Focus’ No. 8 interior defensive lineman out of 113 qualifiers. The Falcons will attempt to make due without MLB Deion Jones (foot), FS Ricardo Neal (heel), SS Keanu Neal (knee), DE Derrick Shelby (groin), and Jarrett in Sunday’s divisional tilt versus the Bucs.
NFL Betting Trends
Tampa Bay
The Bucs are just 3-7-1 against the spread in their last 11 road games.
Atlanta
The Falcons have covered the spread just once in their last six games overall.
Prediction
The reason the Falcons are off to a 1-4 start is that they’ve been decimated by injuries on defense and have not been able to come up with one final stop in the closing minutes of games against the Saints and Bengals. Had they gotten those stops, and had they scored in the final seconds of their Week 1 loss to the Eagles, they’d be 4-1 instead of 1-4. The injuries on defense still exist but the offense is outstanding, especially on their home surface in Atlanta. I see a buyback opportunity with this Falcons team, which doesn’t appear to have given up on its season quite yet. Julio Jones is long overdue for a breakout and he has owned the Bucs in the past. I expect him and Atlanta to take out its frustrations versus this Tampa team today.
NFL Week 6 Prediction: Atlanta Falcons -3