We are back! What a week (phew)! We ended up 56% against the spread and 63% with the over/unders, not too bad, especially with the previous week I had. The Chiefs stayed undefeated in a hard fought game against the Redskins on Monday night, a game that was wildly entertaining. Alright, back on track. Lets keep the ship straightened out now. On to tonight’s game.
| New England Patriots at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 8:25p (Patriots -5.5, O/U: 55.5) |
This game is going to be a tough one because the wildcard for the Buccs will be if Doug Martin will explode out of the block right away or if they’ll slowly ramp up his carries over the next few weeks. The Patriots wildcard will be their defense. The Patriots have one of, if not, the worst defense in the league.
Tom Brady is the one consistent factor of this team. As long as he’s in the lineup, you basically know what you’re getting on offense and he can take a game away from you in the last 4 minutes of the game. Their defensive secondary has some real issues, and Bill Belichick takes pride in turning out the best effort from those guys but Winston can throw and has weapons. I fear they might be too thin and lack too much skill there to stop him.
Jameis Winston has his moments but his poor decision making (at times) could make the Patriots defense look half decent tonight. He likes to try and force balls into tight coverages and when scrambling for his life, can just throw one up to avoid a sack and loss of major yards. With Martin back, I can imagine that he a Jacquizz Rodgers will share touches, at least until one shows they’re having a breakout game. Watch out for Gerald McCoy pushing up the middle on defense.
This is going to be an exciting Thursday Night game with a half decent matchup. Listen, that was an embarrassing loss last week at home against a struggling Cam Newton and the Patriots have started 2-2 before but they also didn’t have the bad defense then like they do now. Expect the Buccs to keep it close. Yes I know, the Patriots don’t lose 2 in a row, that’s why I’m not saying the Pats are going to lose on the road. I am going to tell you to take the Buccs to cover the +5.5 spread with the Patriots winning in the over, 31-27.
Necessary Roughness 