The Tampa Bay Buccaneers descend on the Philadelphia Eagles for Thursday night football. Both the Buccaneers and the Eagles are coming off winning accounts in Week 5, but their seasons are headed in different directions. The Buccaneers are looking the part of defending champions, while the Eagles are still a work in progress. Thus, the opening NFL lines and odds for this game are skewed heavily towards Tampa Bay at multiple top-rated sportsbooks.
Bookmakers opened with the Buccaneers laying 6.5 points to the Eagles. Some shops have already gone up to Tampa Bay -7 with early action going towards Tampa Bay.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Philadelphia Eagles
Thursday, October 14, 2021 – 8:20 PM EDT at Lincoln Financial Field
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Improve to 4-1
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers improved to a 4-1 record on the heels of a rout of the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. Tom Brady had a monster night, throwing for over 400 yards and five touchdowns as he guided the Buccaneers to the 45-17 victory.
The Buccaneers closed on the NFL odds board as the 11.5-point home chalk, and they still covered the point spread with relative ease. Brady went 30 of 41 passes for 411 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions. Leonard Fournette led the team in rushing with 67 yards and one touchdown, while Antonio Brown caught seven receptions for 124 yards and two touchdowns.
It was a comprehensive, confident and immaculate performance by the Buccaneers, who have won two straight since suffering a disappointing defeat to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 3 on the road.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 4-1-0 SU and 2-3-0 ATS with a 9-point winning margin on average and +0.8 differential versus the spread. They’re 1-1 SU and 0-2-0 ATS on the road. The Bucs missed back-to-back road covers in a 34-24 loss to the Rams as the 1-point road favorite and a 19-17 win over the New England Patriots as the 6.5-point closing favorites.
Eagles Rule NFC South
The Philadelphia Eagles have had a topsy-turvy season, but they’re back on track after serving up a 24-18 upset over the Carolina Panthers. It marked only their second win of the season, and somewhat unusually, their second win against an NFC South opponent.
The Eagles opened the season with a stunning upset over the Atlanta Falcons, beating Matt Ryan and Company 32-6 as the closing the 3.5-point road underdogs. It was quite the surprise result that sent seismic shockwaves through NFL betting markets. However, the Eagles struggled to build on that result in their ensuing games.
Jalen Hurts and Company went on a three-game losing streak afterward, losing to the San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys and Kansas City Chiefs. It was a daunting schedule that pit them against a few of the league’s best, and a couple of the outcomes reflected the mismatch: Cowboys decimated the Eagles 41-21 on Monday night football, and the Chiefs crushed the Eagles 42-30.
The Eagles are 2-3-0 SU and ATS, which includes a 1.8 losing margin on average and a +2.1 differential versus the spread. Philadelphia covered recently for the second time, as the +2.5 road underdogs to the Panthers.
NFL Predictions and Picks
The NFL line for this game has been oscillating between -6.5 and a -7 since bookmakers went to press, and based on the early action coming down the wire, the lines is likely to hover between these two numbers for some time. So, betting the number 6.5 or 7 is going to make a difference depending on how you slice this game for NFL picks.
For those that are backing the Buccaneers to cover as the hefty road faves, getting in on -6.5 would be ideal. Conversely, those looking to back the Eagles at home will benefit from the added half-point (+7) for their picks. If consensus betting trends were any indication, most of the early action appears to be going towards the Bucs on the point spread.
The Eagles might be feeling good about themselves right now, ruling the NFC South roost (in part) with wins over Atlanta and Carolina. However, the public isn’t high on Philadelphia getting one over Tampa Bay. Jalen Hurts has kept the Eagles viable this season, but going toe-to-toe with Brady and coming out on top is a lot to ask of a young quarterback that has a long way to go yet.
Brady and the Buccaneers are playing like the defending champions, and they’re building a strong case for a return to the championship game at the same time. They might have struggled to cover on the road this season, but both those games were laden with pressure for different reasons. The Rams were a viable NFC threat while the Patriots was a homecoming for Brady. Philadelphia is an entirely different prospect to those, serving up a different challenge, and one that Brady and the Buccaneers should meet comfortably.
NFL Picks: Buccaneers -6.5 (-110) with DraftKings
