The Redskins are listed as a seven-point favorite, with a posted total of 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
- TB is 0-5 ATS in its last five games
- TB has lost its last seven games SU
- TB has played four of its last five games OVER the total
- TB has covered two of its last six road games
- TB has lost eight of its last 11 road games SU
- TB has played four of its last five road games OVER the total
- WASH has covered one of its last eleven games
- WASH has lost six of its last eight games SU
- WASH has played nine of its last 11 games UNDER the total
Also...
- TB has won nine of the last 13 meetings SU
- Eight of the last 12 meetings have gone UNDER the total
- WASH has won four of the last six meetings SU as the home team
Both of these teams suffered extreme indignity last week. The Buccaneers hosted the New York Giants and not only got shut out (24-0), but also were held to just 86 TOTAL yards, while allowing the Giants to ramble for 228 yards on the ground. The Redskins, who are listed 13th in the NFC Week 4 Power Poll, in some ways did even worse, losing to the Detroit Lions, who we all know by now had lost 19 straight games. I guess if there's some consolation, it's that the 'Skins did manage to outgain Detroit in the game.
Tampa Bay has reacted by making a change at quarterback, where Byron Leftwich was benched after he completed seven of 16 passes for 22 yards. The new quarterback isn't Josh Freeman, who was drafted in the first round this past year, but instead it's Josh Johnson, who came in for Leftwich in a mop-up role.
There are some scouts I have talked to who insist that while Freeman may not be ready to take over an NFL offense, Johnson is even more of a project. On the plus side, he offers quite a bit more mobility than Leftwich, who was a very stationary quarterback.
Johnson played FCS ball in college, and showed potential. His teammates think he can bring another dimension to the offense, and tackle Jeremy Trueblood was effusive. "People gravitate toward him and follow him. What else would you want in a quarterback? He's one of the smartest guys on the team, especially when it comes to football."
Washington's problems have been present even as they have a "veteran" at the helm in Jason Campbell. They have scored more than 20 points just once in the last eleven games, which makes it very dangerous for them to be laying more than a field goal in any game.
Campbell has completed almost 68% of his passes, but where are the points to show for it? Where was the offense at the end of the Detroit game, when Campbell really had to get them moving toward the end zone?
Campbell represents a natural failing of the West Coast offense - lots of dinking and dunking on short passes, but you still have to be a playmaker to get the ball into the end zone. That kind of offense does not force the defense to stretch itself down the field.
