Bucs vs. Lions Total Prediction
The banged-up Bucs will take on the struggling Lions in Detroit on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. ET. With the total sitting at 46 points, dropping from the opening number of 47.5, is the under the best value for bettors?
Game Snapshot
305 Tampa Bay Bucs (-3.5) at 306 Detroit Lions (+3.5); O/U 46
1:00 p.m. ET, Sunday, December 15, 2019
Ford Field, Detroit, MI
Public Betting Trends
According to our NFL Football Public Betting Chart page, the Bucs are receiving 64% of the betting tickets from online sportsbooks.
Tampa Bay Bucs Fantasy Spin
Jameis Winston (thumb) was throwing a tennis ball during the part of practice open to the media. Winston is struggling to grip a football at the moment. He labeled himself day to day and is reportedly expected to play through the pain, but the reports from practice have certainly not been encouraging. Ryan Griffin took all the first-team reps in practice Wednesday. The entire Buccaneers offense would need to be severely downgraded if Winston is ultimately ruled out.
Detroit Lions Fantasy Spin
David Blough completed 24-of-40 passes for 205 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions Sunday in Detroit’s Week 14 loss to the Vikings. The undrafted rookie was victimized for four sacks, resulting in a loss of 44 yards. After a surprisingly competent debut against the Bears on Thanksgiving, Blough came plummeting back to Earth with a miserable Week 14, looking jittery in the pocket, struggling with accuracy and holding onto the ball way too long. The bulk of his yardage (146-of-205) came with Detroit down big in the second half. He badly overthrew Kenny Golladay on his first INT before committing a second pick—this time misfiring on a desperation deep bomb to Logan Thomas—on the Lions’ final play from scrimmage. Blough avoided the shutout by zipping a 10-yard bullet to Golladay on fourth-and-five with 2:09 remaining, giving Detroit its only points of the afternoon. The Lions will take a six-game losing skid into next week’s home matchup with Tampa Bay.
NFL Betting Trends
Tampa Bay
The over is a perfect 8-0 in the Bucs’ last eight conference games and is 10-1 in their last 11 games overall.
Detroit
The under is 6-0 in the Lions’ last six games played in the month of December but the over is 5-0 in their last five home games.
Prediction
If Winston can’t grip a football and is forced to miss Sunday’s game, this matchup will feature a third stringer in David Blough taking on a second-stringer in Ryan Griffin (who took all the first-team reps in practice). While that doesn’t mean two struggling defenses won’t continue to have issues, but I would have to believe that both offenses will be limited in terms of their game plan. I also see this number continuing to drop the closer we get to kickoff, so I’m jumping on the under now while it still has some value.
NFL Week 15 Prediction: Bucs/Lions UNDER 46