Detroit Lions vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL Betting Odds & Spread

Written November 20, 2008 by Jason Lowry

The Detroit Lions will once again look for that first win of the season, as they failed for the 10th time last week losing to the Panthers 22-31. It won’t be an easy task for the Lions, as they host the 7-3 Tampa bay Buccaneers who are winners of 4 of their last 5, including an impressive 19-13 win at home over the VIkings last week. Now the Lions have just 6 games remaining to get that magical 1st win, but all 6 come against teams that are .500 or better. If you are looking to do make some money by betting on the NFL this weekend, the oddsmakers are thinking all Bucs in this one, as Tampa Bay comes in 8.5 point favorites on the road over the Lions at BetUS.com

The Buccaneers did a good job of battling back from being down 13-6 at half, to come away with the big win, and a big reason for that, was the play of quarterback Jeff Garcia who was 23 of 30 passing for 255 yards, and while he didn’t have any touchdown tosses, he more importantly didn’t turn the football over. The Bucs actually only had one touchdown in this one off a 1 yard run by BJ Askew, as they Bucs got the rest of their points off 4 Matt Bryant field goals. Now this team is known for its ability to run the football, but last week Warrick Dunn was the leading rushing with just 53 yards. Good new for this unit is they face the Lions this week, that have had very little success stopping anyone this season.

The Buccaneers defense had a slow start letting the Vikings get off to that early lead, but this defense was tough as nails in the 2nd half, as they completely shut down the Vikings offense. They allowed Adrian Peterson to run for just 85 yars and Gus Frerotte had just 138 yards passing. This week they face Daunte Culpepper and a Lions offense that has done little since signing the once retired QB. Now the Bucs need this win, as they still trail the Panthers in the NFC South, and no one wants to be the team to lose to a team that has started the season 0-10. Bet Buccaneers -8.5 at BetUS.com

The Lions have had their chances to get that first win, and last week they surprisingly took a 10-0 lead, but that was quickly erased, as the Panthers put up 21 in the 2nd quarter. Culpepper struggled in this one throwing 2 interceptions to just 1 touchdown, but the Lions did get a very good game out of running back Kevin Smith, as he piled on 112 yards against a pretty darn good Panthers defense. Now its hard to figure out just what this unit has to do to win this week, but another solid performance from Smith is a good start. They likely can’t afford any turnovers, and the defense has to play its best game of the season.

Now its hard to imagine the defense of the Lions playing much worse against the run this week, as they let both Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo run for at least 120 yards, as the two backs combined for 250 yards and 3 scores. On a brighter note for this defense they did hold Jake Delhomme to just 98 yards passing, but who wants to throw the football when they can run all over you the whole game. Sorry Lions fans we don’t know if or when you will get that first win, we just don’t think you have a shot at doing so this week against the Bucs. Bet Lions +8.5 at BetUS.com

Get the latest NFL picks and the the best NFL spread for each game from Betfirms.

If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:

No comments yet, but your thoughts are welcome!

Comments

Comments are closed.