Early Sharp Money Appears to Back Bills vs. Buccaneers in Tampa
By Ben Heisler
The week-to-week nature of the NFL is a fascinating beast.
Following the conclusion of Monday Night Football, the Buffalo Bills were trying to piece what happened in their 14-10 divisional loss at home to the New England Patriots despite Mac Jones throwing the ball three times all game.
The crushing defeat put Buffalo at 7-5 on the season, with two extremely difficult road matchups ahead in Tampa Bay and New England. I even wrote about how the Bills' loss could have potentially played them out of the AFC Playoff picture!
But as Gotham District Attorney Harvey Kent once famously said in The Dark Knight, "The night is always darkest just before the dawn, and I promise you, the dawn is coming."
In the case of the Bills, the dawn may be reflecting in the odds market this week. Despite hitting the road on a short week against the Super Bowl favorite Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who also happens to be undefeated at home, the odds have shifted in Buffalo's favor.
After opening at Bills +3.5, the line has since been moved right to +3; an indication that sharp bettors and/or money are backing Tom Brady's old AFC foe instead of Tampa Bay.
The oddsmakers at WynnBET Sportsbook are on board as well. According to WynnBET Trader Sawyer Johnson, the movement towards Buffalo makes plenty of sense from a handicapping perspective:
“Despite the external factors surrounding this game, the Bills have a roster that is built to play against a modern day offense such as the Bucs. They didn’t have the tools to play well against a more physical, run-dominant offense such as the Patriots last week.”
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FanSided NFL Insider Matt Verderame points out that the Bills would likely need to win four of their remaining five games to make the postseason considering they're on the outside looking in regarding tiebreaker scenarios. With three winnable games at home in Carolina, Atlanta and the New York Jets, a road victory against Tampa Bay could be the saving grace for Buffalo's season this week, and bettors can take that chance at +145 odds (bet $100 to win $145).
Who are the BetSided editors taking early in the NFL this week? We share our favorite early leans and best bets every Monday and Thursday on the "Bet & Breakfast" podcast.