Friday, May 25th, 2012
The Atlanta Falcons will close out their 2009 season with a trip to NFC South division rival the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in an NFL pro football game on Sunday afternoon. Kick off time in Tampa Bay is scheduled for 1PM Eastern Time with regional television coverage provided by Fox.
The LVSC NFL odds makers have set the opening point spread in this contest and the Atlanta Falcons were opened as a 3 point favorite with the over under coming in at 41 ½.
The early money from the NFL betting public has come in on the home underdog Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as the Atlanta Falcons are currently a 2-point favorite. The total has seen early action towards the over, as the over under is currently lined at 42 for the bettors to play into.
NFL money line gamblers can make a play on the favored Atlanta Falcons at –140 with the home underdog Tampa Bay Buccaneers returning +120 to win straight up without the point spread a factor in the money line bet.
In their first meeting played on November 29th it was the Atlanta Falcons winning 20-17 as a 13-point favorite. The Falcons utilized backup quarterback Chris Redman as Matt Ryan only attempted three passes after getting knocked out of the game due to injury. Redman completed a pass in the closing seconds for the victory. The Buccaneers were miserable on third downs converting on just 4 of 12.
The Atlanta Falcons sits with an 8-7 record this season and have been eliminated from the playoffs. The Falcons are playing with motivation, as the team wants to finish with a winning record at 9-7. The Atlanta Falcons have not finished with consecutive winning seasons in the history of their franchise and head coach Mike Smith has used this as a point of emphasis to finish the season strong. Tampa Bay is a hapless team with a record of 3-12 on the season.
The Atlanta Falcons are winners of two straight games. They are coming off a dominating 31-3 victory over the Buffalo Bills last week. The Falcons defense dominated the Bills allowing just 40 yards on the ground and 138 through the air.
Starting quarterback Matt Ryan has been bothered by Turf Toe this season. The injury forced him to miss two critical games this season that resulted in losses. Ryan has missed some practices this week but the Falcons are working to get their second year starter ready for Sunday. Ryan has only hit on half of his passes in his past two games but with 4 touchdowns and no interceptions. Ryan may have been feeling the effects of his Turf Toe in these games because that was way below his 58% completion percentage on the season.
Running back Michael Turner has been hampered by an ankle injury this season. He has missed 4 of his past 6 games. Two weeks ago against the Jets the veteran back could only handle 1 carry in the game.
Third year pro Jason Snelling has gotten the bulk of the carries with Turners injury. The running back is averaging 4.0 yards a carry this season. Snelling had 68 yards on 15 carries last week. His 4.5 yards per rush attempt last week was his best in 7 games as he was no better than 3.7 in the other games.
The Falcons have had back to back good games on defense limiting the Jets to 7 points two weeks ago and just 3 to the Bills last week. They were aided by bad quarterback play as rookie Mark Sanchez was not good and Brian Brohm was a mess last week for the Bills. The Falcons allow 21 points per game this season. They have had problems in pass defense as the team ranks 28th in the NFL allowing 247 yards through the air per game.
After a 9-7 record in the 2008 season the 2009 Tampa Bay Buccaneers were a hapless team with a record of 3-12 this season. Head coach Raheem Morris was the laughing stock of the league firing key assistants during the season. Morris poorly represents the franchise and could be coaching his last game on Sunday.
The team is coming off a 20-17 victory over the New Orleans Saints last week. They exploited a banged up Saints defense for over 400 yards in victory. The Buccaneers have played poorly at home with a 1-5 record and averaging 15 points a game while allowing nearly 30.
The Bucs have been utilizing their third option at quarterback during training camp as rookie Josh Freeman is under center. The rookie has hit on 55% of his passes with 9 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. Freeman has been a mistake prone quarterback with 13 interceptions in his past 4 games.
The Buccaneers have been carried on offense by the play of running back Cadillac Williams. The 5-year pro has rushed 195 yards on 26 carries for 5.4 yards a carry average the past two weeks. Williams finally got a full workload last week with 24 carries. Amazing how it took the Buccaneers coaching staff to finally give Cadillac more than 20 carries.
Defensively the Buccaneers have been poor all season. The team allows over 25 points per game. Tampa Bay is 30th in the league against the run allowing 156 yards per game and an extremely high 4.8 yards per rush attempt. The Buccaneers secondary is one of the worst in the league as opposing quarterbacks have been torching them with the big play this season. Thirty four year old cornerback Ronde Barber has no interceptions on the season.
For the Latest NFL Odds Please Visit our NFL Odds Page
NFL Trend: Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 1-5 ATS in their 6 home games this season
The Wagerline consensus has 74.5 the NFL bettors on Atlanta Falcons –2
The Wagerline consensus has 58.0% the NFL bettors playing over 42
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