Sports bettors looking for an NFL team on the rise in the coming season—and seasons—will want to keep their eyes on Tampa Bay. Though they aren’t NFC championship or Super Bowl plays just yet, they have the roster to garner single game attention. Last season, with rookie quarterbck Jameis Winston tossing passes, they ground out six victories and a fourth place finish in the NFC South division. It wasn’t a particularly impressive season, but it was an improvement over the previous two seasons, when they amassed just six wins total.
Everything about this team right now centers on its offense. Winston led the charge for a 20th ranked attack in 2015, which isn’t impressive in a vacuum. But it’s quite the accomplishment for a rookie QB, and the offense should be even better since the team didn’t lose anyone of note on that side of the ball. Running back Doug Martin was really the only key flight risk in free agency, and the Bucs locked him up on a five-year deal.
Pairing Martin and Wintston with wideouts Vincent Jackson and Mike Evans makes for an stellar nucleus. Even tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkings is someone to watch; he could be in store for a breakout 2016 with Evans and Jackson commanding so much defensive attention.
This isn’t meant to infer that the Bucs will suddenly morph into profound futures candidates. They won’t. They aren’t even sensible division plays.
While there is a feasible scenario in which their offense carries them past the Atlanta Falcons and, less likely, the New Orleans Saints, they just don’t have the roster to compete with the Carolina Panthers right now.
That leaves win totals and single game lines to be your sportsbook bread and butter.
Best Tampa Bay Buccaneers Betting Lines
This is where you can find all the best Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ best betting lines. Take a look below, and you’ll be able to spend less time researching sportsbooks.
Game lines in the NFL, however, do tend to change throughout the week. That’s the offshoot of getting them days in advance of kickoff.
Unless you make your bet immediately after the lines are published, return here a few times to confirm that the odds haven’t moved as the result of injuries, player returns or superfluous action on one particular team or wager.
Best case scenario? The lines don’t move and you’re just being super thorough by re-scanning the lot a few times. Worst case scenario? You catch a change that ensures you won’t be making a misinformed or outdated play.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Regular Season Schedule
This is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ entire schedule. Do not neglect its importance. It can be used to bolster the strength of your single game bets.
Pillaging through the scores and outcomes of past games will help you unearth patterns that will be valuable when applied to imminent matchup.
You can see how the Bucs fare against the spread at home compared to when they are on the road. You can check out how they play when facing great offenses or fantastic defenses. You can find out if they have been better over or under dice rolls throughout the season. And you can calculate their record against opponents above .500 and opponents below .500—among so much else.
These results can then be weighed against the Bucs’ future games. Jumping ahead in the schedule won’t give you access to early lines, but you can figure out which type of team the Bucs are playing by studying the roster and play style, then apply their records from the above situations.
Doing this gives you direction before the lines are ever official. When they come out, you can confirm your findings and make a swift, yet accurate, wager that affords you the luxury of exploiting the early, typically bettor-friendly odds.
What Are The Tampa Bay Buccaneers Standings
Here’s a look at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ place in the standings. This is a good resource for those keeping track of the progress of futures bets, as well as for those planning any midseason gambles.
The thought process here is simple. See where the Bucs stand relative to division (Carolina Panthers), NFC (Seattle Seahawks) and general NFL (New England Patriots) powerhouses. If they’re within the vicinity of those types of squads, you’ll know it’s time to consider their division, NFC Championship or Super Bowl odds.
How To Win Tampa Bay Buccaneers Bets
Tampa Bay Buccaneers' futures aren't a lucrative field right now. But win total overs and unders are extremely interesting gambits at this juncture.
With an offense on the up and up, there may be sportsbooks that drive up the Bucs' number of victories past the point of worthy betting. But that scenario is unlikely.
Both the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints underachieved in 2015. Many will project them to be better in 2016. Throw in the Carolina Panthers' assumed stay as an NFL powerhouses, and by most projections, there won't be a lot of extra wins to snare around that division.
This is big, because every team plays one another twice within the division. So there will be sportsbooks that peg the Buccaneers as a five or six win team. If you can find those scenarios, bet on them aggressively.
Taking a gamble on an over/under of seven isn't even a bad idea. Though the Falcons and Saints could improve, they may also run in place. Their cores aren't especially young, and only the Falcons were particularly aggressive in adding to their roster. That favors Tampa Bay.
We're not saying the Bucs are in line to be the NFC South's second best team. But they should be on course to win between seven and nine games in 2016, which is enough of an incentive to flirt with the over totals on all win futures.
We have portrayed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an up and coming betting option. We stand by that. They should improve overall. But one aspect of their play style shouldn't change or drastically improve—their performance on the defensive side of the ball.
The Bucs finished 26th in points allowed per game last season. They were not especially good at stopping the run or thwarting passing attacks. It is going to be the same story, different season, moving forward.
Tampa Bay didn't sign any big time contributors in free agency. It poached defensive end Robert Ayers from the New York Giants. And that's not enough for them to climb out of the defensive gutter.
Perhaps they move up a few spots in the points allowed per game department, but they will still dwell inside the bottom 10 of this category overall. They aren't built to force turnovers—interceptions, forced fumbles, three- and four-down stops, etc. They are decidedly behind the curve.
Thus, the Bucs will often bleed points. Truth told, they should be sitting ducks against any top 12 passing attack. While bad news for fans, this is good news for sportsbettors. It makes the Bucs great over plays after factoring in their inevitable offensive ascension.
View them as such to begin the season, unless their performance through the first three games proves otherwise.
