New Orleans Saints vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday Night Football Preview, Picks and Betting Guide
New Orleans Saints (6-7) vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-3)
Date: Sunday, December 19, 2021
Time: 8:20 p.m. ET
Venue: Raymond James Stadium
New Orleans Saints vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Moneyline, Total and Odds
All NFL Betting Lines, Odds, and Prop Bets are available on FanDuel Sportsbook.
Moneyline: Saints +420|Buccaneers -560
Spread: Saints +11.5 (-110)|Buccaneers -11.5 (-110)
Total: 45.5 Over (-110) Under (-110)
Odds to win Super Bowl LVI: Saints +13000|Buccaneers +500
Saints vs. Buccaneers Predictions and Picks
- Alvin Kamara over 53.5 rushing yards
- Rob Gronkowski over 4.5 receptions
- Rob Gronkowski over 54.5 receiving yards
- Tom Brady over 40.5 pass attempts
- Saints +11.5
New Orleans Saints vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers News, Analysis and Picks
Sunday Night Football in Week 15 is brought to you by the NFC South, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hosting the New Orleans Saints. The Bucs have been on a hot run to end the season, winning and covering their past four games. Times are more challenging in New Orleans, as the Saints have dropped five of six, with their only win coming against the lowly Jets. It's worth noting that four of those five losses came without Alvin Kamara in the lineup, but the four-time Pro Bowler is ready to go for tonight's prime-time matchup.
This season, Kamara has been an x-factor for the Saints, helping the team to a 6-3 record when he's active. The former Offensive Rookie of the Year's metrics correlates with the Saints victories. New Orleans is 6-1 when Kamara gets 16 or more carries and 0-2 when he rushes the ball less than that. We saw last week how involved the Saints were going to get Kamara with Taysom Hill under center. Kamara toted the ball 27 times for 120 yards and caught four-of-five targets and 25 yards. Tampa's run defense has been good this season but not good enough to limit Kamara to 53.5 rushing yards or fewer. We're wagering that Kamara makes his way over his rushing yards prop.
Tom Brady and the Bucs are no slouches moving the ball downfield. Brady has distributed the ball effectively throughout the season but has an eye open for Rob Gronkowski when he's in the lineup. Gronk has been targetted eight or more times in six of his eight games this season, recording 34 targets in four games since returning from injury. In that time, Gronkowski has gone off for at least 58 yards in every game catching at five or more passes in three of four. On that basis, we are taking over 4.5 receptions prop and over 54.5 receiving yards.
The Bucs head into tonight's contest with question marks around Leonard Fournette's health, which could mean even more pass attempts from Brady. The future Hall of Famer has thrown at least 34 pass attempts in every game this season, going north of 300 passing yards in three of his previous four contests and throwing two or more touchdowns in 10 of 13 games. Tampa has been relentless with the passing game this season, and we're expecting that to continue on Sunday night. We're taking over 40.5 passing attempts from the Tom Brady.
Although the Saints' recent results have been questionable, we still like their chances to cover the spread against the Bucs. New Orleans travels well, going 4-3 on the road this season, straight up and against the spread. This is the biggest spread the Saints have faced this season, but we like them to keep things close in this divisional matchup. Saints +11.5 is the play.
