Buccaneers at Broncos Odds

Written by Jason Lowry

The NFL is in full swing and one of the most anticipated matchups of week 5 comes in the 3-1Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the 3-1 Denver Broncos. The Buccaneers come in tied for first in the NFC South with Carolina, and have rolled off 3 straight since their loss to the Saints in week 1. Last week the Bucs had a very impressive 30-21 win over the Green Bay Packers, on the other hand the Broncos came into last week at a perfect 3-0 and headed to Kansas City to take on a Chiefs team that hadn’t won a game, but the Chiefs came out firing and wound up taking home the win 33-19. The odds makers look to be favoring the home team in this one, as the Broncos come in as 3 point favorites over the Bucs.

The Bucs offense is all about the run game as they have got little out of their quarterback play. Brian Griese remains the starting quarterback, but even though he has thrown for over 500 yards in the last two games, he has had 3 interceptions in both games and now has just 4 touchdowns to 6 INTs. Earnest Graham continues to run the ball effectively as he has 334 yards and a 5.9 average per carry. The Bucs have also got some help from veteran Warrick Dunn who had his best game og the season last week grabbing 63 yards. This offense will likely get a boost against a Broncos defense that hasn’t been able to stop anyone this season, and let the Chiefs score more runs in one game than they had all season.

The real reason that the Bucs have the record they do is they have the No. 1 ranked defense in the NFL giving up just 197 yard a game. The defense has not only shutdown the pass, but has been unbelievable against the run giving up 54 yards a game. That will be put to test this weekend, as the Broncos have one of the best offenses in the NFL. It will be strength against strength in this one, and defense usually wins, but Denver is one of the toughest places to play in the NFL.

The Broncos offense came into last week averaging 38 points a game, but a Chiefs defense that hasn’t really been able to stop anyone held them to just 19. The thing is Denver never plays good in KC, and its likely they will bounce right back to form this week. Cutler looked great at times against the Chiefs as he threw for over 361 yards, but he had 2 big interceptions and failed many times to score TDs in the redzone. Expect a better Cutler at home, and that likely means you can expect another big game out of wide receiver Brandon Marshall, who has 398 yards and 3 scores in just 3 games this season. Either way you put it this Broncos team is in 1st in the AFC West and looks like its going to be a threat all season long.

The huge concern that faces this team is the play of their defense, that simply has yet to show up since holding the Raiders to 14 points in week 1. Both the pass and run defense have struggled, as Saints quarterback Drew Brees threw all over them for 421 yards two weeks ago, and last week Larry Johnson ran wild for 198 yards and 2 touchdowns. This defense has to get better or each week is going to be struggle for this team.

Comments

Got something to say?