NFL Football: Cincinnati Bengals VS Tampa Bay Buccaneers Prediction, Odds and Preview - 12/18/2022

 

Game Time: 4:25 PM ET,  Sunday, December 18th, 2022

Venue:  Raymond James Stadium, Tamp, Florida

Where to Watch: CBS, Paramount +

FanDuel:  Bengals -3.5, O/U 43.5

BetMGM:  Bengals -3.5, O/U 44

PointsBet:  Bengals -3.5, O/U 44.5

Bengals: 9-4, 2nd place AFC West

Buccaneers: 6-7, 1st place NFC South

An inter-conference battle between the best young quarterback in the league… and the greatest quarterback to ever play.  The two quarterbacks are similar in play, fearlessness, and popularity.  Their teams are not that similar.  The Cincinnati Bengals have a top-5 offense and a quality defense.  QB Joe Burrow has ignited the imagination of Bengals fans so much that they get to go around pretending being a Bengals fan isn’t all that embarrassing. It should be, the team has been junk for decades until Joe got there. Joe has suffered a few injuries to his receivers… but at the moment he still has WR Ja’Marr Chase… which is a talent connection that will one day stand similar to Aikman to Irvin… you know, very good.  QB Tom Brady for the Bucs ignited the Tampa Bay fans two seasons ago when he joined the team… They immediately ran the playoff table to yet another Super Bowl trophy for Tom.  Since then, there has been an erosion, a coaching change, a faltering of key pieces on the roster.  Tom has weapons like WR Mike Evans and Chris Godwin… but Gronk is retired, somewhere selling shoes and sandwiches… and the defense has regressed.  Still Brady is in striking distance of the greatest thing Tom Brady does all year every year… the postseason.  The Great Betting Opportunity in this matchup will be all about who you believe will carry the day… and if they will cover 3.5 or win outright?

The Cincinnati Bengals are on a 5-game winning streak… All five games were wins Against the spread.  To emphasize what I just said 5-0 ATS equals Hot Tub… They are 10-3 on the season… that equals Range Rover if you didn’t blow all the profit on a hot tub.  The Bengals won their last game over the Cleveland Brown 23-10.  The spread was absurdly low at Bengals -4.5 because people still think that sexual deviant Deshaun Watson could lead the Browns somewhere… he can’t this season.  In the win QB Joe Burrow completed 18 of 33 passes for 239 yards, 2 TDs, and 1 INT.  RB Joe Mixon had 96 yards on 14 carries, and RB Samaje Perine had 22 yards on 4 carries with 1 TD.  Joe’s rock WR Ja’Marr Chase had 119 yards on 10 catches with 1 of the passing TDs.  It wasn’t the most dominant performance… but a win is a win.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost their last game to the San Francisco 49ers 35-7.  It was especially embarrassing because the 49ers were starting (and will go forward with ) a rookie QB who was the VERY LAST pick of the last draft.  The Bucs defense could not stop THAT GUY.  Brock Purdy became the 9th rookie QB to debut his career against Tom Brady and then became the first rookie QB to get a win over Tom in his career debut. In the loss QB Tom Brady completed 34 of 55 passes for 253 yards, 1 TD, and 2 INTs.  The rushing game of RB Rachaad White and Leonard Fournette were quiet and ineffective all day…. Even worse the defense gave up 35 points completely forgetting that they are 9th in the league at defending scoring.  The Bucs are the opposite of the Bengals this season as they are an atrocious team ATS with only 3-9-1… They have been a bad bet even in wins.

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CIN: 9-4, 10-3 ATS, 4-8-1 O/U, 4-3 on the road.

TBB: 6-7, 3-9-1 ATS, 3-10 O/U, 3-3 at home.

The Bengals are 7th in the league in scoring with 25.8 points per game, 5th in total yards with 371.7 per game, 4th in passing yards with 268.1 per game, and 24th in rushing yards with 103.6 per game.

The Bucs are 28th in scoring with 17.2 points per game, 18th in total yards with 338.6 per game, 5th in passing yards with 265.7 per game, 32nd in rushing yards with 72.9 per game.

The Bengals defense is 14th in the league in defense of total yards with 331.1 allowed per game, 20th in defense of passing yards with 220.1 per game allowed, 11th in defense of rushing yards with 111 allowed per game, and 11th in defense of points scored with 20.4 per game.

The Bucs defense is 10th in defense of total yards with 320.7 per game allowed, 6th in defense of passing yards with 195.3 per game allowed, 20th in rushing yards with 125.4 per game allowed, and 9th in defense of points with only 19.5 per game allowed.

Our prediction for Sunday, December 18th is…. Bengals 35 - Bucs 14

 

Bet on the Bengals.  This is a 49ers game sequel.  Tom Brady is not playing his best ball while Joe Burrow is.  That is really all we need to say.  

 

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Tampa Bay is 6-2 ATS versus the Bengals since 1992

There have been no matchups between these teams the last 3 seasons.

The Bengals are 33-17 ATS the last 3 seasons.

Tampa Bay is 1-9 ATS on grass fields this season (they play on grass at home).

Bengals: QB Joe Burrow, HB Joe Mixon, WR Ja’Marr Chase, WR Trenton Irwin, WR Tyler Boyd, TE Mitchell Wilcox, OT La’el Collins, OT Jonah Williams, LG Cordell Volson, C Ted Karras, RG Alex Cappa

Bucs: QB Tom Brady, RB Rachaad White, WR Mike Evans, WR Chris Godwin, TE Ko Kieft, TE Cade Otton, LT Donovan Smith, LG Nick Leverett, C Robert Hainsey, RG Shaq Mason, RT Josh Wells

Partly Cloudy, Humidity 72%, Wind 10 mph, 61*