Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Washington Football Team Odds & Game Pick (2021)

Among the notable Week, 10 NFL betting matchups in Sunday's early window is a rematch from last year's NFC Wild Card Playoffs. When the two teams meet this weekend, the defending Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers will look to topple the Washington Football Team on their home field. Interestingly, both teams enter this game fresh off of a bye week. The betting odds give a decisive edge to the visitors ahead of this matchup.

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Details

Opening Lines: Buccaneers -7.5; O/U 51
Current Lines: Buccaneers -9.5; O/U 51.5
Location: FedExField - Landover, MD
Start Time: 1 p.m. EDT
TV: FOX
Last Meeting: January 9, 2021 - The Buccaneers defeated Washington 31-23 in an NFC Wild Card playoff game in Landover.

Overview

When we last saw the Buccaneers in action before their Week 9 bye, they fell victim to Trevor Siemian and the New Orleans Saints. Although that loss certainly hurt Tampa's case within the NFC South Division, they emerge from their week off a full game clear after the Saints lost last Sunday. Tom Brady continued his massive stat lines against New Orleans with 375 yards passing and four touchdowns. However, the Saints' ability to generate pressure led to Brady tossing a pair of interceptions. He also got next to no help from the run game two weeks ago. Therefore, expect another pass-heavy approach on Sunday against Washington.

While it does appear that Antonio Brown will be able to return to the lineup for this week's NFL betting matchup, the Buccaneers might be without another one of Brady's top weapons in fellow wideout Chris Godwin. Godwin had a massive 140-yard receiving game against the Saints. His absence will be sorely felt if the foot injury does force him to miss time. The Bucs come in ranked ninth in adjusted defensive efficiency on the season, according to Football Outsiders. Expect the stacked front seven to have a major upper hand against an overmatched Washington offensive line.

After winning the NFC East despite finishing with a losing record last season, it doesn't appear that Washington has gotten any better. Of course, they did lose their starting quarterback, Ryan Fitzpatrick, right away in Week 1. While Taylor Heinicke is arguably the best backup in the NFL, it did change the outlook of things offensively. Adding to the Football Team's issues is one of the worst offensive lines in football. Heinicke was sacked five times two weeks ago in a road loss to the Denver Broncos. He was pressured much more than that and wound up throwing a pair of INTs in the NFL betting loss.

Another problem caused by the poor offensive line play has been the lack of a consistent run game. Antonio Gibson has let numerous fantasy football managers down this season as a result. It's hard to envision Washington generating much of a rushing attack on Sunday against the Bucs' stout front seven. Instead, the onus will be on wideout Terry McLaurin and the returning Curtis Samuel to make plays against the vulnerable Tampa secondary. While the Football Team has been starting to play better defense before last week's bye, they still rank 31st in adjusted efficiency against the pass. That's just begging for trouble in this NFL betting matchup against Tom Brady. 

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Trends

• Buccaneers are just 2-4 ATS in their last six games.
• Football Team is only 1-7 ATS in their last eight games.
• Buccaneers are 0-5 ATS in their last five games against NFC East Division opponents.
• Football Team is 1-6 straight up in their last seven home games.
• In four of the last six Buccaneers vs. Football Team head-to-head matchups played in Washington, the total has gone under.

Bottom Line

Taylor Heinicke may have been able to keep Washington close against the Buccaneers in last year's NFC Playoffs game. Unfortunately, the two teams have trended in very different directions since. Washington's defense was the critical element of their surprise postseason appearance a season ago. However, through the team's first eight games this year, the unit has arguably been the most disappointing of any in the NFL. 

Even if Tampa Bay is without Chris Godwin on Sunday, Tom Brady should have more than enough weapons at his disposal. However, with Rob Gronkowski also out and Antonio Brown yet to practice at the time of writing, there are additional injury concerns for bettors to monitor. The vast majority of public bettors are backing the Bucs in this spot despite the hefty spread. This, along with the fact that Tampa is just 3-5 ATS on the season to date, both are concerning, but the Football Team has not done much to suggest that they can hang with the defending champs. Washington is also are catching the Buccaneers off of an ATS loss. Tampa Bay is 7-1 ATS in the last eight such scenarios. 

Pick: Buccaneers -9.5

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Henry John is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Henry, check out his archive and follow him @HankTimeHenry.