Both the Washington Football Team and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers enter this Week 10 match-up coming off of their bye week. Both teams also lost the last game they played. That’s about the sum total of their similarities – these two teams are going in opposite directions.
The 6-2 Bucs will be looking to rebound from a tough upset loss to their division rival New Orleans Saints.
Washington will be just looking to get back on track after losing four straight. At 2-6, their playoff hopes are dwindling quickly.
Odds
The Bucs opened the week as 7.5 point favourites, At the time of posting, the spread had moved to Tampa Bay -9.5. Some books even have it listed as -10.0.
The Over / Under is currently sitting at about 51.5, up about half a point from where it opened.
Injuries
For Washington:
Montez Sweat is out a month with a broken jaw.
Curtis Samuel (groin) and Benjamin St-Juste (concussion) are both out.
Dyami Brown, Samuel Cosmi, Sammis Reyes, and Greg Stroman are all still questionable for Sunday.
Logan Thomas, Jared Norris and Darryl Roberts are all slated to return next week, and will not likely be available.
For Denver:
Tight End Rob Gronkowski and wide receiver Antonio Brown are both out for Tampa Bay this week.
Defensive back Dee Delaney is listed as questionable but practiced fully on Friday and could play.
Jason Pierre Paul did not practice on Friday and is listed as questionable.
Other questionables for the Bucs include DT Sam Renner, WR John Franklin, and WR Chris Goodwin.
‘Expert’ Picks
Picked Tampa Bay:
Matt Bowen ESPN
Rob Ninkovich ESPN
John Breech CBS
Jamey Eisenberg CBS
Jason La Canfora CBS
Jared Dubin CBS
Will Brinson CBS
Ryan Wilson CBS
Dan Graziano ESPN
Laura Rutledge ESPN
Sam Acho ESPN
Domonique Foxworth ESPN
Seth Wickersham ESPN
Dave Richard CBS
Kevin Seifert ESPN
Once again, everyone bet against Washington. Third time in four weeks.
Where To Put Your Money
Ten points is a lot to cover in a road favorite situation. But the Bucs are favored by that much because they are an infinitely better team at this moment.
Washington is an eye-opening 1-7 against the spread so far in 2021. That trend isn’t changing on Sunday. Take the Bucs.
Tampa Bay -9.5
The Bucs will score a lot, but the Football Team won’t. Projected Score: Tampa Bay 31 Washington 16
Under 51.0