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Oakland Raiders vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFL Betting Odds & Spread

Written December 25, 2008 by Jason Lowry

Buccaneers Raiders Football

What a huge swing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers season has taken, just 3 weeks ago they were 9-3 playing for the division lead, and now after 3 straight losses they are playing for their playoff lives, and even if they win they aren’t guaranteed a spot. The Buccaneers not only have to beat the Raiders this weekend, but have to have to the Eagles take care of business against the Cowboys. Last week the Buccaneers let San Diego come on their home field and beat up on them 41-24, as the Broncos became the first team to beat the Bucs at home. As for the Raiders the grabbed their 4th win of the season with a 27-16 win over the Texans. For those of you looking to do some NFL betting this Sunday, the oddsmakers have the Buccaneers 13 point favorites over the Raiders at Sportsbook.com.

The Raiders haven’t had a lot to get excited about this season, but last week after going into the 2nd half tied at 13 a piece, Johnnie Lee Higgins put on a show. First Higgins caught a 29 yard pass from JaMarcus Russell, and then about 6 minutes later took a Texans punt 80 yards back for a score. Russell also had himself a pretty solid ball game, as he threw for 236 yards and 2 scores on 18 of 25 passing. Justin Fargas led the way with 93 yards, while Darren McFadden added another 48 yards on the ground. This week the Raiders have to go into one of the toughest places in the league to win, and its going to take a big day from not only the running game, but from Russell as well.

The Raiders defense was what really surprised us last week, as we didn’t think they had much of a chance of stopping the big 3 for the Texans, but thats exactly what they did. They held Matt Schaub to just 255 yards passing with one interception and no touchdowns, they let Steve Slaton run for just 66 yards, and what stands out the most is the 2 catches for 19 yards they limited Andre Johnson. This week they will look to do the same thing against Jeff Garcia and the emerging play of wideout Antonio Bryant. Bet Oakland Raiders +13 at Sportsbook.com.

Lets take a look at the team that will be glued to the tv watching cheering on the Eagles this Sunday, as the Bucs season is pretty much in their hands. Last week we really thought the Bucs would take care of the Chargers at home, and it looked like they were going to, as they had a 24-20 lead going into the final period of play. But things quickly changed and the Chargers scored 21 unanswered to end the game. The running game was hit or miss throughout and if it wasn’t for Garcia scrambling for 45 yards and a score, the Bucs would of only had 66 yards on the ground. Antonio Bryant had another big day catching the football, as he hauled in 6 catches for 127 yards with a score, but Garcia didn’t have the best of days throwing, as he had 2 interceptions, including one that went for a score when the game was still in reach.

The Bucs defense was not what we expected to see when we watched this game, as they let Phillip Rivers do pretty much whatever he wanted, as Rivers completed 21 of 31 passes for 287 yards and 4 scores. The Bucs also let LaDainian Tomlinson have one of his better days running the football, as he had 90 yards against a Bucs defense that prides itself on stopping the run. This week they better get their act together or it doesn’t even matter what the Eagles do, we expect the Bucs to take care of business but last week left some doubts. Bet Tampa Bay Buccaneers -13 at Sportsbook.com.

Lowry’s Lean on the Game: Raiders +13
We like the Buccaneers to win this game, but we aren’t sold on the fact they are going to come out and blow the Raiders out of this one. The way the Raiders can give opposing teams problems with the passing game, has us thinking the Bucs will struggle to run the football at times.

Predicted Score: Buccaneers 28 Raiders 20

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