Saints vs. Bucs Spread Prediction
The New Orleans Saints are double-digit favorites at home on Sunday versus NFC South rival Tampa Bay. Can the Bucs hang with the Saints without Jameis Winston or will the host team roll?
Game Snapshot
463 Tampa Bay Bucs at 464 New Orleans Saints
1:00 p.m. ET, Sunday, September 9, 2018
Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
Public Betting Trends
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetNow.eu, the Saints are 10-point favorites to beat the Bucs. The total, meanwhile, sits at 49.5 points. As of this writing, 7% of the public betting tickets are on the Saints to cover the point spread.
Tampa Bay Bucs
Bucs CB Brent Grimes (groin) has been downgraded to out for Week 1.
The Bucs will turn to Carlton Davis opposite Vernon Hargreaves. Grimes was injured late in the practice week and may be looking at a multi-game absence.
New Orleans Saints
Saints LG Andrus Peat (quad) is questionable for Week 1 against the Buccaneers.
Peat should be ready to roll after getting in limited practices on both Thursday and Friday. OT Jermon Bushrod (not injury related) also drew the questionable tag for Sunday’s opener.
NFL Betting Trends
Tampa Bay
The Bucs are 2-6-1 against the spread in their last nine road games.
New Orleans
The Saints have covered the point spread in 13 of their last 18 games versus the NFC South.
Prediction
Week 1 is notorious for burning public bettors and this game sets up perfectly to fade the public. All of the value has been sucked out of the Saints’ line and has now jumped to the Bucs. New Orleans opened as a 7-point favorite but that line is long gone, as most books now have the Saints listed at -10. Winston is out for Tampa but Ryan Fitzpatrick has plenty of starting experience so he’s not going to be intimidated by the moment. These two teams are also familiar with each other being division rivals and even though the Saints are a legit Super Bowl contender, I’m taking the points.
NFL Week 1 Prediction: Tampa Bay Bucs +10