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The New Orleans Saints will play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 15 in this big NFC South matchup. It's time to continue our NFL odds series with a Saints-Buccaneers prediction and pick.
The Saints and Buccaneers will meet on Sunday night in primetime as each team jockeys for playoff positioning. Tampa Bay pulled off a wild overtime win over the Buffalo Bills in Week 14, while the Saints won convincingly on the road vs. the New York Jets. Alvin Kamara returned to action for New Orleans, and they looked like a completely different offense as a result. The Buccaneers will look to keep winning in an effort to get the No. 1 seed in the NFC heading into the postseason. They sit at 10-3 along with the Green Bay Packers and Arizona Cardinals entering Week 15. Tampa Bay comes in as big favorite over the Saints for this matchup, which comes as no surprise.
For more insight on the Saints-Buccaneers matchup in Week 15, listen below:
Here is how FanDuel set the Saints-Buccaneers odds for this Week 15 NFL matchup.
NFL Odds: Saints-Buccaneers Odds
New Orleans Saints +11.5 (-110)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers -11.5 (-110)
Over 45.5 (-110)
Under 45.5 (-110)
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Why The Saints Could Cover The Spread
Division battles can often be closer than anticipated by statistics and analytics. These teams know each other well and Sean Payton's staff is capable of putting together a game plan that gives Tom Brady trouble. We saw that last season when the Saints blew out the Buccaneers early in the regular season. Tampa Bay is a much better team than they were then with hundreds if not thousands of snaps together since. They are one of the best and most consistent offenses in the NFL. New Orleans' path to keeping this game close would ideally be to limit possessions and control the ball. The issue is that is difficult to do vs. the Buccaneers No. 1 ranked run defense.
Taysom Hill will likely need to be able to make plays through the air for the Saints to keep pace in this one, as being one dimensional vs. the Buccaneers area of strength may not be the most ideal game plan. Tampa's defense is more susceptible to the pass. The passing game is huge question mark for the Saints with Hill under center, so this game could have the potential to be a blowout if the Saints are unable to run the ball. New Orleans is 4-3 on the road this season and 6-7 against the spread.
Why The Buccaneers Could Cover The Spread
The Buccaneers are a perfect 6-0 at home this season and come in as big favorites for another win in Tampa. Tom Brady is having an MVP-caliber season, and should be able to get the win in this one vs. an inexperienced Saints QB in Hill. The cover is a bit more of question mark, as the Saints do have a good enough defense to at least test the Tampa offense. A double-digit line in a division game is not always the most comfortable spot to lay points, either. Typically defaulting to taking the points would make sense in the division game, but this is a really tough matchup for the Saints. The Buccaneers can definitely win this game by multiple possessions.
Final Saints-Buccaneers Prediction & Pick
Take the Buccaneers to win and cover in this one. Tampa needs to keep winning with the Packers and Cardinals right in the mix for the No. 1 seed and home field throughout the postseason.
Final Saints-Buccaneers prediction & pick: Buccaneers -11.5 (-110)
