Cowboys Buccaneers Odds

Written by Jack Jones

The Dallas Cowboys travel to face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 15. This will be the first Saturday game of the season, and kickoff is set for 8:20 EST on NFL Network. The Cowboys really need this game after back-to-back heartbreaking losses. The Buccaneers have appeared to pack it in while knowing they have no shot of making the playoffs.

If you are looking to wager on this game, then you will find a line of Dallas -6.5 over Tampa Bay and a total set of 46 points.

Dallas

The Cowboys have lost the last two weeks in eerily identical fashion. Dallas (7-6, 2-4 away) lost to Arizona on December 4th 19-13 in overtime after Dan Bailey missed a potential game-winning field goal at the end of regulation. Head coach Jason Garrett called timeout right before his first attempt, which sailed through the uprights. He would go on to miss the one that counted.

In Sunday night’s 37-34 loss to the New York Giants, the Cowboys held a 34-22 lead with only 5:41 to play after Dez Bryant caught a 50-yard touchdown pass from Tony Romo. The Giants would answer with two touchdowns, including a 1-yard run by Brandon Jacobs with 46 seconds left which proved to be the game-winner. Tony Romo marched his team down the field with no timeouts to set up a potential game-tying field goal from Bailey. He made his first attempt at a 47-yarder, but New York head coach Tom Coughlin called a timeout. Once again, he would miss the one that counted as Jason Pierre-Paul blocked it.

Dallas sits in a first-place tie with New York in the NFC East division, but the Giants now own the tiebreaker. That means the Cowboys would not be in the playoffs if the season were to end today. They come into this game ranked 6th in the league in total offense (390.1 yards/game) and 16th in total defense (344.4 yards/game). DeMarco Murray is out for the season with a foot injury suffered in the loss to New York. That means Felix Jones, who rushed for 106 yards against the Giants, will be the featured back the rest of the way. Miles Austin returned from a hamstring injury last week, catching four balls for 63 yards and a touchdown.

Tampa Bay

The Buccaneers simply haven’t been able to live up to the expectations they created for themselves a year ago. Tampa Bay (4-9, 3-4 home) narrowly missed the playoffs last year with a 10-win season. They started fast, winning three of four and four of six to open the season. However, the wheels have fallen off and the Bucs simply cannot put them back one. Tampa Bay has lost seven straight games, including back-to-back ugly losses to Carolina and Jacksonville while getting outscored 79-33.

They are coming off their worst loss yet, a 41-14 setback at Jacksonville last Sunday. After taking a 14-0 lead, the Bucs allowed 41 unanswered points to the Jaguars. Maurice Jones-Drew scored four touchdowns, and Jacksonville’s defense came up with two defensive touchdowns on fumble recoveries in the second quarter. Tampa quarterback Josh Freemen returned from injury to go 16 of 30 passing for 181 yards with two interceptions. LeGarrette Blount rushed for 74 yards and a score, but the offense committed seven turnovers in the loss.

Tampa Bay ranks 18th in the league in total offense (331.3 yards/game) and 29th in total defense (388.5 yards/game). Freeman has had a sub-par season, completing 61.2 percent of his passes for 2,896 yards with 12 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. Blunt has picked up right where he left off last year, rushing for 737 yards and five touchdowns. If these two could just stay healthy, the Bucs could be a dangerous team in the coming years . Mike Williams leads all Tampa receivers with 60 grabs for 701 yards and three scores.

Betting Trends

Dallas is 6-0 ATS in their last 6 vs. NFC South opponents, but 0-8 ATS when playing against a bad team (Win Pct. 25% to 40%) over the last 2 seasons.

Tampa is 14-3 ATS in their last 17 off an upset loss as a road favorite, but only 1-10 ATS as a home underdog of 7 points or less over the last 3 seasons.

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