Bucs vs. Cowboys Pick
Will the Sunday Night Football matchup between the Bucs and Cowboys be a defensive struggle at 8:30PM ET?
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetDSI, the Cowboys are 7-point home favorites versus the Bucs after opening as a 7.5-point favorite. As for the total, the number hit the board at 46 and has been bet up to 46.5.
The Bucs are one of the hottest teams in the league. After losing 43-28 to the Falcons on a Thursday night in early November, Tampa Bay has won five straight games and is coming off a 16-11 win over the Saints last Sunday as a 2-point home favorite. The win kept the Bucs tied with Atlanta atop the NFC South standings at 8-5 and after covering for the fifth straight week, Tampa is now 8-5 against the spread in 2016.
The Cowboys had their 11-game winning streak snapped last Sunday night in East Rutherford, losing 10-7 to the Giants as a 3.5-point road favorite. Dallas is still in the driver’s seat to win the NFC East and earn the top spot in the NFC. At 11-2, they own the best record in the conference and should earn a first-round bye, but they need to beat the Bucs and have the Giants lose to the Lions to secure the division crown.
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OUR PREDICTION: The Cowboys have combined to score 24 points in their last two games because they faced the Vikings and Giants, two of the better defenses in the NFL. The Bucs don’t have great overall defensive numbers, but they’ve been lights out since giving up 43 points to the Falcons back in November. They have held opponents to 21 or fewer points in every game over their five-game winning streak and should play well on Sunday, too. The under is 4-1 in the last five meetings between these two teams and is 7-3 in the Cowboys’ last 10 games overall. The under is 3-1-1 in the Bucs’ last five road games as well.
NFL WEEK 15 PREDICTION: BUCS/COWBOYS UNDER 46.5