NFL Week 8 Wagering – Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Dallas Cowboys
by Mike Rose
Two of last season’s playoff teams from the NFC do battle in the Lone Star State on Sunday afternoon, and BetUS Dallas Cowboys (4-3, 2-5 ATS).
The last time these two teams met was on Thanksgiving Day 2006. The Cowboys spanked the Bucs 38-10 that day, but a hobbled Tony Romo and plenty of off-the-field issues should make for a more competitive battle this time around. The defeat snapped Tampa Bay’s three-game winning streak against Dallas. The 38 points the Cowboys scored was 25 more points than they had scored in the previous three meetings.
Tampa Bay played a fantastic game on NBC’s Sunday Night Football telecast against the Seahawks, but the spread was just slightly inflated for the Bucs to avoid getting backdoored by a late Seattle touchdown. The Buccaneers outgained Seattle by 226 total yards, and the defense held Seattle to just 176 total yards of offense and seven first downs. QB Jeff Garcia was efficient yet again, completing 27-of-36 passes for 310 yards and a touchdown.
In the end, it was QB Seneca Wallace and Seahawks bettors that had the last laugh, as the backup QB tossed a touchdown pass with 2:00 to go to make the final score 20-10, enough to stay within the 10.5-point spread. The ‘total’ of 39.5 was never threatened. SNF was the third straight Tampa Bay game that failed to reach the ‘total’, averaging coming up short by 11.3 points per game.
The struggles of the Boys in “Big D” are starting to rile the fans, media members, and sports investors alike. They’re calling for HC Wade Phillips to be fired following Dallas’ 34-14 embarrassment in St. Louis. Backup QB Brad Johnson struggled, completing just 50% of his passes while throwing three interceptions. The normally strong defense had no answers for Rams RB Steven Jackson, who rolled up 160 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 25 carries.
It was the fourth straight game that Dallas bettors have had to rip up their tickets. Not only have the Cowboys not been covering, they haven’t been coming close. They haven’t come closer to the spread than a touchdown since September 21st, averaging losing to the spread by 14.8 points per game.
With QB Tony Romo now officially out for this contest, offshore oddsmakers installed Dallas as 2.5-point home chalks with a game ‘total’ of 40.5.
Dallas is just 1-9 ATS in its L/10 conference games, and they’re also just 5-8 ATS in its L/13 against the NFC South. Tampa Bay hasn’t fared much better against the NFC East, going just 2-3 SU and 1-3-1 ATS in its L/5 overall confrontations.
BetUS Sportsbook offers up all of the action for this great NFC match-up as well as the rest of NFL’s Week 8 wagering slate. Be sure to login to your account and place your football bets before this one gets started!
