The No. 7 seed Philadelphia Eagles will head on the road to play the No. 2 seed Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the first Super Wild Card Weekend on Sunday afternoon. The playoff game will be televised on FOX at 1 p.m. ET.
The Eagles (9-8) clinched their playoff berth in Week 16 with a win over Washington, along with a loss by the Vikings and win by the 49ers. As for the Buccaneers (13-4), they ended the regular season with an impressive 41-17 win over the Panthers. The last time the Bucs played the Eagles, Tampa Bay won 28-22 in Week 6 at Lincoln Financial Field.
So where are sports bettors going as we get closer to game time? Let’s take a look. All odds and info were provided by DraftKings Sportsbook.
Point Spread
The Bucs are 8.5-point favorites. 56% of the handle and 62% of the bets are on Tampa Bay.
Is the public right?
It is surprising to see the public still backing Tampa Bay and the spread at -8.5 in the middle of the week. At this point, I thought the spread would’ve dropped down at least one point, but the public still loves Brady and the Bucs. Tampa Bay has only loss one game at home this season and 6-2 against the spread as home favorites.
However, do not sleep on the Eagles this weekend as they’ve found their offensive identity, which they didn’t have back in Week 6. Philadelphia is one of the best rushing teams in the NFL and will be taking on a Bucs’ defense that is allowing 109 rushing yards per game in their last three game. If the Eagles can establish their ground game and put together a couple of long scoring drives, they can keep the score within a touchdown.
Over/Under
Total points is installed at 47. 76% of handle is on the under and 60% of the bets are on the over.
Is the public right?
It seems like there’s some action on the under, but the public is on the right track with the over in this playoff contest. When these two teams played back in Week 6, the total was 50 and that was when the Eagles didn’t have identity. Now granted, a lot of has changed on both sides of the ball. But the Bucs still averaged 26.8 points per game in their last five games, while the Eagles averaged 28 points per game over the same time. I think both teams will be able to hit a couple of big plays for this over.
Moneyline
The Bucs are -400 favorites and the Eagles are +300 underdogs. 75% of handle and 83% of bets are on the Bucs.
Is the public right?
If the Eagles were to somehow pull the upset over the Bucs, it would be one of the more impressive wins of the season. However, the odds are stacked against them as Brady and the Buccaneers are looking to defend their Super Bowl title. This will be the first playoff experience for Jalen Hurts and head coach Nick Sirianni. It will be a good learning lesson, which will feature some good and bad. The Bucs will win, but it won't be a blowout.
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