Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Minnesota Vikings (-3), Total 41.5 |
Tampa Bay dropped a 27-20 contest to the Detroit Lions as one-point home favorites in its season opener and will look to run the ball more heading out on the road. The Buccaneers completely abandoned the rushing attack with a no-huddle pass-oriented offense in the third quarter last week.
“We want to win games with running back LeGarrette Blount bludgeoning you for 130 yards and us having a couple of play-action bombs,” Buccaneers head coach Raheem Morris stated. “When we go to that two-minute offense we take Blount out of the game.”
Quarterback Josh Freeman saw his number of passes go dramatically up, completing 28 passes on 43 attempts for 259 yards. Blount only saw the ball get in his hands five times.
On the other side of the ball, all focus is shifted on stopping Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, who carried the ball 16 times for 98 yards last week against the San Diego Chargers.
The rushing attack has been Minnesota’s strength since 2007, gaining 138.3 rushing yards a game over that span. “It’s great,” said Morris. “You want to play against the best. That’s why it’s an exciting game.”
NFL betting players will find that the Buccaneers are 12-3 ATS on the road and the ‘under’ is 10-6 over that span.
Minnesota is explosive on the ground due to gaining 260 plays of 10 or more yards on the ground. Peterson has led the charge in that category, rushing the ball over first-down yardage 161 times.
Sunday’s game will be the 52nd time the Vikings and Buccaneers have played, with Minnesota holding a 31-20 overall advantage, including an 18-7 mark at home.
The Vikings did drop the previous meeting 19-13 at Raymond James Stadium in 2008 as 4.5-point road underdogs, as the Buccaneers have actually won four series meetings in a row.
Veteran quarterback Donovan McNabb will need to bounce back from a terrible performance in the opener, as he completed just 7 of 15 passes for 39 yards, which was the fewest in any game for the franchise since 1971.
Head coach Leslie Frazier knows what the team needs to do to be successful. “We’ve got the best running back in the National Football League and we’re grateful for that,” he commented this week. “I like the fact we got No. 28 in our backfield.”
The Vikings are 8-2-1 ATS in their last 11 games as a home favorite and the ‘under’ is 4-1 in the last five meetings in Minnesota in betting predictions.
