Falcons vs. Buccaneers Prediction: It's All About Football for Brady Now and That's Scary for the Rest of the NFL

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers led by Tom Brady are 2-2 and so are the plucky Atlanta Falcons with Marcus Mariota. Atlanta has proven that they can run the ball and have success in the Arthur Smith offense without Derrick Henry, but now that Cordarelle Patterson is out, will they be able to score on Todd Bowles’ vaunted run stopping defense.

Falcons vs. Buccaneers Odds, Spread and Total

Falcons vs. Buccaneers Odds, Spread and Total Movement in NFL Week 5

The spread opened at 10.5 and has come down to 9.5 which is important movement through the magic number of 10, but that happened early in the week and there hasn’t been movement since. 

Falcons vs. Buccaneers Prediction and Pick

The Atlanta Falcons have gone over their total in three of their four games, but have yet to go against any line with Vita Vea up front. Akiem Hicks might also be returning from a foot injury that kept him out last week. Regardless, the strength of the Bucs entire team is stopping the run and I expect them to load up with cornerbacks on an island against Mariota. If this means Mariota finally cuts it loose to Drake London and Kyle Pitts to let them win one-on-one then it could be a good thing, but it’s hard to trust he will throw more this week. 

Tom Brady is dealing with an injury to a finger on his right hand and from the looks of it the ring finger on his left, but a motivated Brady who is starting to get his weapons back on offense is a scary thing. Last week against the Chiefs they couldn’t run the ball and it got away from them from the opening kick, but Week 5 will be a totally different story. 

Brady and the Bucs offense could score 10 points and might be able to cover this 9.5 point spread because of how dominant their defense will be against the Falcons. 

Pick: Buccaneers -9.5

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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.