Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Baltimore Ravens Betting Preview
Opening Line: Buccaneers +9 / Ravens -9 O/U 41
Time: 4:15 PM EST Sunday November 28, 2010 on FOX
Hard to believe, but the Bucs are 7-3 and in a fight in the NFC South with the division leading Falcons (8-2) and the Saints, who are also 7-3. The Ravens (7-3) are also in a division battle tied atop the AFC North with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Ravens have yet to lose at home this season (4-0) while the Bucs have been stellar on the road (4-1).
Tampa does have a good record, but they have not beat one team this season that has a winning record. If the Bucs can win this tough away game they may prove they are a legitimate playoff contender.
In their last games the Buccaneers blanked the San Francisco 49ers 21-0 and the Ravens beat the Carolina Panthers 37-13.
This season the Bucs have been a solid betting team going 7-3 ATS while the Ravens are 5-4-1 ATS. Tampa Bay is 7-0 ATS in their last 7 road games, but don’t run out and bet the house on them, as Baltimore is 7-2 ATS in their last 9 games as a home favorite of 3.5-10.
Baltimore has the league’s 13th ranked rushing offense and 14th ranked passing offense, so their balance makes them tough to stop. QB Joe Flacco threw for over 300 yards last week with 1 TD and he finally has a good WR corps with the likes of Anquan Boldin and Derrick Mason, RB Ray Rice has played well this season, but he has only rushed for over 100 yards once this season. That may change in this game, as while the Bucs are solid defending the pass (ranking 6th) their rushing defense is one of the worst in the league ranking 29th giving up an average of 136.5 rushing yards per game.
QB Josh Freeman leads Tampa Bay’s 22nd ranked passing offense and while he does not put up great numbers he also does not make mistakes and he is a great 4th quarter QB. The Bucs may have finally found a RB they have been looking for in rookie LeGarrette Blount, as after finally getting some playing time he has delivered, big time, in the last 5 games. Baltimore’s defense ranks 8th in the league and they are solid at both defending the run and the pass, but they have not been dominant like they have been in recent years.
In some other betting trends for this non-conference game:
Tampa Bay is 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games, 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games as an underdog of 3.5-10, and an Under record of 12-5 in their last 17 games.
Baltimore is 1-5-1 ATS in their last 7 games following a win of more than 14 points and has an Over record of 5-2 in their last 7 home games.
Our Selection : The Ravens biggest weakness is their pass defense which is something the Buccaneers will not be able to exploit. Tampa Bay has surpassed 250 yards in the air one time this season (253 versus Cardinals) and have failed to reach 200 in 5 of their 10 games. The Bucs rushing attack has been exceptional as of late since promoting RB Blount to starter, but one dimensional offenses do not fair well versus the Ravens press defense. It's a big line to lay versus a winning team, but the Bucs have yet to prove that they can beat an upper level team losing to Pitt by 25, NO by 25 and the Falcons by 6. Take the Ravens -7.5 5Dimes.com.