Game Time: 1:00 PM ET, Thursday, October 10th, 2021 

Venue: Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Where to Watch: Fox, NFL Network

Circa:  Point Spread: Tampa -7;  : O/U 51.5

Caesars: Spread:  Tampa -7; : O/U 52

BetMGM:  Spread:  Tampa -7; : O/U 51.5

Bucs:  4-1 (NFC South)

Eagles: 2-3 (NFC East)

The Bucs are defending Super Bowl champs. They are led by Quarterback Tom Brady… we all know him: perfectionist, Goat.  They are playing on a short week.  The Thursday game has a tendency to throw teams that have inexperience and uncertainty on the roster, teams that need the full week of practice to make sure everyone is on the same page offensively and defensively.  Those teams are not the Bucs.  The Bucs have proven Vets everywhere. 

The Eagles have a losing record.  They are off to another rough start to this regular season.  The thing that they should remember to fight off the doom and gloom is they play in the NFC East.  Before everyone crowns the 4-1 Dallas Cowboys as the guaranteed winner of the NFC East… please remember that they are always a Dak Prescott injury away from being the worst team in football.  Last season proved that any of the awful teams in the NFC East can win the division by getting hot for a brief period. 

4-1 Sunday in all sports but that's not all! It is also a 4-1 NFL Week thus far! Not only did Scott "The Bulldog" Rickenbach wrap up his Sunday with a BLOWOUT WINNER on the Bills, he also also WON Thursday night with the Rams/Seahawks UNDER! His NFL off another DOMINATING SEASON (check 2020 leaderboards!) and his MNF 10* TOP testing DUAL 80% RUNS! Come get it!.. Get Scott’s picks; they're  available right now at the Shop Picks page, where you can find all of the Best Bets from our champion sports handicappers.

Tampa is 4-1 to start the season.  They won a very close game 1 against the Dallas Cowboys 31-29.  They won Game 2 48-25 against the Atlanta Falcons at Raymond James Stadium.  They lost game 3 to the excellent Los Angeles Rams 34-24.  They won game 4 in an emotional return to Gillette Field and the New England Patriots 19-17… they didn’t have to worry too much as they are the reigning Super Bowl Champions and the Patriots are rebuilding.  Game 5 was a cakewalk victory over the Miami Dolphins 45-17.  

Philadelphia opened the season with a win over Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons 32-6.  The joy and optimism was short-lived.  The Eagles would lose the next 3 straight… San Francisco 17-11, Dallas Cowboys 41-21, Kansas City Chiefs 42-30.  In game 5 the Eagles got a comeback victory over Sam Darnold and the Carolina Panthers 21-18.  The difference was the Eagles defense forcing 3 turnovers that led to Jalen Hurts having 2 second-half rushing touchdowns.

 

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offense is ranked 2nd in the NFL.  They are scoring 33.4 points per game on 431.4 yards per game.  They are masters of the passing game netting 349.4 passing yards per to only 82 rushing yards per.  At times it feels like Tom Brady is a head coach on the field.

The Eagles are ranked 14th in offense in the NFL… That sounds good and it is above average, but all the numbers seem to rely on QB Jalen Hurts doing or trying to do it all.  They are netting 372.6 yards per game… Jalen is throwing for 256 yards per game and running for another 51 yards per game.  He gets hit a lot… it will not sustain.  They are scoring 23 points per game.

Tampa Bay has the 17th ranked defense in the league.  They are winning, but giving up 24.4 points per game on 360.2 yards per game.  It is, so far, a far cry from the Super Bowl defense they fielded last year even though it is mostly the same players.  They are either a year over the hill or still rounding into form after an amazing off-season of steakhouses and high-fives on the golf course.

Philadelphia has a losing record despite the 14th ranked offense because the defense is giving up 24.8 points per game on 336.8 yards per game… that would be fine, in fact it is good enough for 10th in the league!  However they will have to tighten up if they are to make up for all the turnovers and penalties.  

Our prediction for Thursday, October 14th is… Bucs 28 - Eagles 13

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In a road game where the point total is greater than or equal to 49.5 points Tampa Bay is 5-2 ATS over the last 3 seasons.

When playing on a Thursday Tampa Bay is 2-9 ATS since 1993.

Weeks 5-9 Tampa Bay is 3-7 ATS the last 3 seasons.

Eagles are 2-5 ATS in all games where the point total is set greater or equal to 49.5 the last 3 seasons.

Tampa:  S Antoine Winfield Jr (concussion) Questionable * TE Rob Gronkowski (ribs) Quest

Tampa Bay: QB Tom Brady.  Until Tom has played his last NFL game he will always be the center of attention of any broadcast.  The announcers will direct you to notice him.  The sideline reporters will clamour to get his comments.  The camera will follow him all the time.  He is the NFL version of Jordan and Jabaar rolled into one.  He is Gretsky and Lemiuex rolled into one.  He has 7 Super Bowl rings and is the all time passing leader for America’s number one sport. He will be a cultural fixture in your life for the rest of your life.

Bucs:  QB Tom Brady, RB Leonard Fournette, WR Mike Evans, WR Chris Godwin, WR Antonio Brown, TE Cameron Brate, LT Donovan Smith, LG Ali Marpet, C Ryan Jansen, RG Alex Cappa, Tristan Wirfs

Eagles: QB Jalen Hurts, RB Miles Sanders, TE Dallas Goedert, WR DeVonta Smith, WR Jalen Reagoe, WR Quez Watkins, LT Jordan Mailata, LG Landon Dickerson, C Jason Kelce, RG Nate Herbig, RT Lane johnson.

Tampa: 

Passing: Tom Brady 1,767 yards

Rushing: Leonard Fournette 251 yards

Receiving: Mike Evans  393 yards

Tackles:  Devin White  36

Interceptions:  Mike Edwards  2

Eagles:

Passing yards: Jalen Hurts 1,365

Rushing yards: Jalen Hurts 256

Receiving yards:  DeVonta Smith 314

Tackles: Alex Singleton 52

Interceptions: Darius Slay 2

Partly Cloudy. 79* for the day’s high will drop at sunset.  61% Humidity.  Wind at 8 mph.