NFL Football: Tampa Bay Buccaneers VS Arizona Cardinals Prediction, Odds and Preview - 12/25/2022

 

Game Time: 8:20 PM ET,  Sunday, December 25th, 2022

Venue:  State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Arizona

Where to Watch:  NFL Network

FanDuel:  Bucs -8, O/U 39.5

BetMGM:  Bucs -7.5, O/U 40.5

PointsBet: Bucs -7.5, O/U 40

Buccaneers: 6-8, 1st place NFC South

Cardinals: 4-10, 3rd place NFC West

Bad teams will battle it out in this NFC matchup.  The visitors are in 1st place in the AFC South… They also have an ugly losing 6-8 record which shows you how historically bad the NFC South is.  Still they have the best quarterback who has ever played… who is going through an odd mid-life crisis that has caused him to lose his family and spend Christmas in a hotel room.  I don’t know anyone with a full family net worth of a billion dollars?.. But I imagine if I did… that guy would have simply stopped playing football for more time with a hot wife and growing kids… but then I might be dumb. The Home team is a dumpster fire in the NFC West.  They signed their franchise quarterback to a VERY BIG contract and they clearly regret it.  A word to the wise.. If you drag your feet at signing a contract it most likely is because you don’t want to sign it.  Now that they did?... They are stuck at 4-10 with that big contract quarterback on the injury list. One team has a chance at making waves in the playoffs the other team won’t even sniff the playoffs… but they are both bad.  The Bucs with QB Tom Brady under center will win their division and strike fear into the hearts of a team with a better record when they reach the postseason… even though they should not.  The Cardinals with both QB Kyler Murray and QB Colt McCoy not playing… should simply make their vacation plans.  Let’s check the numbers and decide who will or won’t cover the spread. The only great betting opportunity is found in the spread.

The Tampa Bay Bucs are on a 2-game losing streak.  They had a tough go of it having to play the San Francisco 49ers and the Cincinnati Bengals back to back.  They lost their last game to the Bengals 34-23.  In that game QB Tom Brady completed 30 of 44 passes for 312 yards, 3 TDs and 2 INTs.  The interceptions are out of character for Tom… but it has been a whole year out of character for Tom.  RB Leonard Fournette could not pick up the slack as he only had 44 yards on 10 carries.  The Bucs defense allowed Burrow to throw for 4 TDs with only 200 yards passing. 

The Arizona Cardinals are on a season killing 4-game losing streak.   They last lost to the Denver Broncos. In that game, the backup Cardinals QB Colt McCoy was knocked out with a concussion and had to give way to 3rd string QB Trace McSorley who promptly threw 2 INTs… to go with Colt’s 1 INT.  The Cardinals are in a very dark place.  RB James Connor got 63 yards on 16 carries and 1 TD… but man oh man… the Cardinals have nothing left.  Except for the defensive play of JJ Watt.  He recorded 3 sacks against the Broncos and could actually be the final nail that kills Tom Brady’s career if he isn’t blocked properly.

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TBB 6-8, 3-10-1 ATS, 4-10 O/U, 2-4 in road games.

ARI: 4-10, 6-8 ATS, 8-6 O/U, 1-6 in home games.

The Bucs are 28th in scoring with 17.6 points per game, 18th in total yards with 342.7 per game, 4th in passing yards with 268.5 per game, and 32nd in rushing yards with 74.3 per game.

The Cardinals are 18th in scoring with 20.9 per game, 21st in passing yards with 327.1 per game, 18th in passing yards with 215.4 per game, 20th in rushing yards with 111.8 per game.

The Bucs defense is 7th in defense of total yards with 314.7 per game, 5th in passing yards with 194.5 per game allowed, 17th in rushing yards with 120.2 per game allowed, and 10th in defense of points with 20.6 allowed per game.

The Cardinals defense is 20th i total yards with 351.9 per game allowed, 23rd in passing yards with 237.6 per game allowed, 13th in rushing yards with 114.3 per game allowed, and 32nd (last) in points allowed with 26.6.

Our prediction for Sunday, December 25th is… Bucs 28 - Cards 12

 

Bet on the Bucs to cover the spread.  Defensively the Cardinals are barely OK… while the Bucs are pretty good.  Offensively the Cardinals are a disaster while the Bucs are led by the best QB of all time.  Even if JJ Watt knocked Tom Brady out of the game in the first quarter… Brady’s backup is better than whatever the Cards are putting on the field.

 

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The Bucs are 3-8 ATS as a favorite this season.

The Cards are 8-3 ATS as an underdog of 3.5 to 9.5 points the last 3 seasons.

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

Cardinals: QB Colt McCoy OR Trace McSorely, RB James Connor, WR Marquise Brown, WR DeAndre Hopkins, WR AJ Green, TE Trey McBride, LT Josh Jones, LG Max Garcia, C Billy Price, RG Will Hernandez, RT Kelvin Beachum

Sunny and 70 degrees during the day… will cool as the sun sets… could be all the way to 60* !!  Humidity 36%... remember to bring a windbreaker.