The NFL is back for Week 8 of the 2023 season as the Buffalo Bills play host to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the Bills Stadium in this week's edition of Thursday night football.
The Bills are currently 4-3 for the season after a mixed run, while the Buccs are 3-3 having lost each of their last two games after having week 5 as a bye.
We'll take a look at the match-up and provide you with our best free NFL betting picks to see if we can earn you some extra cash while you enjoy the action on the field.
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Buffalo Bills vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers information
- Thursday, 26 October 2023
- Bills Stadium, Orchard Park, New York
- 20:15 ET kick-off
Season so far
The Bills opened their season in one of the most heartbreaking ways possible for a fan as they travelled to the New York Jets and fell to a 22-16 overtime defeat in week 1. Week 2 was better for them though as they bounced back with a victory over the Las Vegas Raiders in dominant fashion, claiming a 38-10 win at the Bills Stadium.
Week 3 saw another highly impressive victory by a huge margin, beating the Washington Commanders 37-3 at FedExField, before making it three wins in a row in week 4 by smashing past the Miami Dolphins with a 48-20 win at home.
Then came a trip to London and the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium against the Jacksonville Jaguars, where the team looked slow and they fell to a 25-20 defeat. Week 6 got them back on the winning trail with a lethargic and competitive 14-9 win over the New York Giants, but last time out they fell to defeat against the New England Patriots at the Gilette Stadium where a 15-point fourth-quarter wasn't enough to complete the comeback.
Tampa Bay on the other hand started the season in terrific fashion with back-to-back wins in the opening two game weeks.
First they defeated the Minnesota Vikings 20-17 in a close fought game at the US Bank Stadium, before following that up with a home win against the Chicago Bears with a more convincing 27-17 scoreline.
In week 3 the Philadelphia Eagles put them to the sword and handed them their first loss of the season 11-2, but an emphatic win followed in week 4 thanks to a 26-9 score against the New Orleans Saints before a bye in week 5.
Since then they have really struggled for form and lost each of their last two games at home, getting dominated by the Detroit Lions 20-6 and then losing a close game 13-16 against the Atlanta Falcons.
NFL Picks: Buffalo Bills -7.5 @ -110
The Bills have been the better team this season across the board and on paper they have the edge in this matchup. Not only can we expect that they’ll return some of their injured defensive players from the last few weeks, but they match up nicely here against a Tampa Bay passing defense that has truly struggled since their win over New Orleans.
Only six teams have allowed more passing yards per game than the Buccaneers this season at 265 yards, so we know Josh Allen will be plenty active here. All of the Buccaneers cornerbacks have been struggling, so expect Allen to target them hard and often.
On the Buccaneers’ side, I do expect Mike Evans to be a big part, as the Bills rank 30th in defensive DVOA vs. WR1s this season. Despite that though, it's highly unlikely that will be enough to stop the Bills getting a comfortable win here.
The Buffalo offense has too much firepower for the Buccaneers to stick around as contenders in this game and we should see the home team pull away as we enter the latter stages.
Expect the Bills to overpower the Buccaneers on all fronts, and I even expect James Cook to have a solid day to follow on from the blueprint of D'Andre Swift.
NFL Picks: Over 42.5 total points @ -110
Both of these teams' greatest strengths come when it comes to scoring rather than stopping the opposition, which is always a good sign to go for the over.
Tampa have played six times this season and hit the 43 point winning mark in just one of them, but they have scored 20+ points on three occasions. The Bills on the other hand have seen this total land in four of their seven games this season, hitting the 20+ points mark themselves in five of those games.
They've also hit 37, 38 and 48 points in different games this season which shows that if they can really click then there is no reason they blow their opponents out of the water and basically do all the work on this bet themselves.
Buffalo and Tampa should score double figures, and it would be a surprise to see this one not land so take the excellent value and prepare for entertainment.
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