Cincinnati Bengals vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers Point Spread Picks

It's getting down to crunch time for Tom Brady and the Buccaneers as they have to start winning some games even though they currently lead the wretched NFC South with a 6-7 record and Atlanta and Carolina still having a chance to overtake them. Brady completed 34 of 55 for 253 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions as his team lost 35-7 at San Francisco and he will be fired up and focused for this game as he and Joe Burrow match up for the first time. Cincinnati has won five straight and finally got over the hump and beat its nemesis, the Cleveland Browns, 23-10 last week and the Bengals went UNDER for the third game in a row. Tampa Bay is 7-2 UNDER its past nine games and it has allowed only 19.5 points per game on the season and the Bengals allow 20.4. The Bucs are 14-6-2 ATS their past 22 December games and they have gone UNDER five of seven in December. Tampa Bay is 10-4 UNDER following an ATS loss and 11-2 UNDER after any loss. Also, the Buccaneers have stayed UNDER four straight after giving up at least 30 points their previous game. Take the Buccaneers and the UNDER as a Max Play.

Cincinnati's young defense was #21 in points allowed last year and #25 in yards allowed. They're on a 13-3 run OVER the total in the preseason with seven of their last eight August games being 38-17, 23-13, 25-23, 30-27, 21-13, 26-13, and 27-26. Defending champion Tampa Bay won't play QB Tom Brady, and they won't be playing their best defensive players either. Head coach Bruce Arians doesn't play things conservative on offense even in the preseason as his teams are on an 11-6 run OVER the total in August games. Also, the scores of his last four Week 1 preseason games were 30-28, 20-18, 31-10, and 34-19. Take the OVER.

Dirk Koetter's first preseason game as coach of Tampa Bay was a 17-9 loss to Philadelphia in a game that went UNDER by 11 points, and the Bengals also went UNDER in Week 1 last season, losing 17-16 to Minnesota. Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis is 30-26-1 UNDER in the preseason, including staying UNDER six of the last eight games the last two years. Defensive coordinator Mike Smith greatly improved the defensive backfield in his first year with the Buccaneers as they finished fourth in the NFL with 17 interceptions, and they signed Chris Baker to shore up the defensive line. Backing up Jameis Winston is Ryan Fitzpatrick, who is in his 13th year in the NFL, and completed 56.6 percent of his passes with the Jets in 2016 with 12 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. Ryan Griffin is next in the QB rotation and has not appeared in a regular season game, while rookie Sefo Liufau signed with the Buccs after going undrafted this spring. Cincinnati missed the playoffs for the first time in six years, but the defense allowed 19.7 points per game, including only 15.3 points the last eight games. The Bengals return the entire starting defensive backfield, and Carlos Dunlap and Geno Atkins anchor the defensive line. Andy Dalton's backup, AJ McCarron, played briefly in one game last year with no stats, while Driskel didn't play at all. Play this matchup to stay UNDER the total.