Bills Bounce Back Among ‘Thursday Night Football’ Bets To Make
Stefon Diggs should get back on track
Week 8 of the NFL regular season is now set to kick off, so let's examine three bets to make for the Thursday night matchup between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Buffalo Bills. We'll start with this large point spread.
Buffalo Bills -8.5 (-110)
This is a tale of two talented teams not playing fully to their capabilities coming into this game. The Buccaneers started the season off at 3-1 and quarterback Baker Mayfield looked like his second act would be his best in Tampa Bay. But since then, the Bucs lost two straight and Mayfield is now dealing with a knee injury. Meanwhile, the Bills have been the epitome of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. One week they are blowing out the likes of the Miami Dolphins, while last week they lost outright to the lowly Patriots. The combination of the injury concerns to Mayfield and some other key Bucs pieces, coupled with the fact that it's a short week in terms of preparation, is why I'll take Buffalo -8.5.
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Over 43 total points -110
After last week's showings for both teams, betting the over feels like a risky move. The Buccaneers only scored 13 points in a loss to Atlanta, and they were even worse the week before only generating six points in a loss to the Detroit Lions. The Bills could never figure out New England's defense and failed to light up the scoreboard like they were favored to do. But this is still an offense that is capable of fireworks in any given game. After coming off a tough loss to the Patriots, the Bills offense will execute better and have an opportunity to bounce back at home in primetime against Tampa Bay. With the injury uncertainty around Mayfield, I can understand the reluctance to bet the over. But as the week has progressed, Mayfield has been a limited participant in practice, and I anticipate that he will get the start for this game. Mayfield is completing 65% of his passes so far this season with eight touchdowns and four interceptions. Even if Mayfield is banged up, he'll be able to manufacture enough plays to get the Bucs some points in this game.
More Betting
Stefon Diggs anytime touchdown at -125
You can't talk about the Bills and not mention star wide receiver Stefon Diggs. Diggs is ranked in the top five for every receiving statistical category. Although he had a touchdown in the loss against the Patriots, QB Josh Allen and Diggs failed to hook up on a couple of big throws in that game, including a late potential game-winning drop by Diggs. We know the targets will be there plus, this Bucs defense is not on the same level as the Patriots defense.
