Saints vs Buccaneers Week 13: The Tampa Bay Bucs Have Struggled Against the Spread This Season

• 4-8 New Orleans Saints were shut out last week, now in last place in the NFC South

• Tom Brady’s Buc’s are coming off a shocking Week 12 OT loss to the Browns, 17-23

• Watch Saints vs Buccaneers live on Sunday, Dec. 4, 2022, at 1:00 PM ET on ESPN

Saints vs Buccaneers Week 13 Odds

Saints vs Buccaneers Week 13 Picks

POINT SPREAD: Tampa Bay Buccaneers -3.5 (-110) at Caesars  

POINTS TOTAL: Under 40.5 (-110) at BetMGM

MONEY LINE: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-195) at DraftKings

POINT SPREAD: Tampa Bay Buccaneers -3.5 (-110) at Caesars

The NFL’s Week 13 has an NFC South battle between the 4-8 New Orleans Saints and the 5-6 Tampa Bay Bucs, both teams fighting for survival amid a division that still seems entirely up for grabs, especially if QB Andy Dalton can lead his boys past this struggling Buccaneers team led by GOAT QB Tom Brady whose off the field problems have seemed to have crept into the huddle.

That’s not to say Brady is having a bad season – in fact, it’s a great year for him statistically since he’s ranked fourth among QBs in production while throwing for over 3,000 yards and 14 TDs with just 2 interceptions all year – a handful for the Saints’ top-11 defense that ranks tied for 8th in total sacks this season with 33, that group needing a great game if they expect to win.

The Tampa Bay Bucs have struggled against the spread this season, having failed to cover in eight of their last nine games, but they are playing against a Saints team that was shut out in Week 12 by the San Fran 49ers, so they most likely won’t need too many points to outscore QB Andy Dalton’s bunch, despite talented targets like rookie WR Chris Olave and dual-threat RB Alvin Kamara.

POINTS TOTAL: Under 40.5 (-110) at BetMGM

Both of these teams are coming off Week 12 losses and both are sub .500 after a dozen weeks of play, which fits in perfectly in the NFC South where all four teams are within one game of each other, a tiebreaking nightmare leading up to the playoffs where the divisional winner gets in and the rest must fight for wildcard spots with better candidates in line ahead of them.

These are two strong defenses – Saints are ranked 11th and the Bucs are ranked 9th – facing offenses that have not been clicking on all cylinders, New Orleans averaging 20.8 points per game and the Buccaneers averaging 18.2 points each time, that total of 39 points just under what the oddsmakers are predicting, so that is what we are taking here.

According to gambling insiders, each of New Orleans’ last four games as underdogs have gone under the total points line, but when you consider what each of these defenses allow – the Saints allow 23.3 points per game, and the Bucs allow 18.5 for a total of 41.8, just over the bet total here – this could be more of a defensive matchup so it could make better sense to bet the over.

MONEY LINE: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-195) at DraftKings

The Buccaneers must get better at converting on third downs, right now ranked 23rd in the league (37.97%) compared with the Saints who are tied for 16th in that category (40%), and Tampa Bay could use some improvement in the Red Zone (ranked 25th) since this season they find themselves often close with no touchdown cigar for the payoff, with only six more weeks to get that fixed.

Here's an interesting factoid from the oddsmakers – the Buccaneers have lost eight of their last nine games after coming off overtime and watching Brady fail to win an OT game he had in the bag by a touchdown last week is an indication that anything can happen against the GOAT nowadays, but that’s assuming Saints HC Dennis Allen can fix ASAP whatever’s ailing his team.

For this money line bet, we like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to win the game outright so it would take a $195 bet to win a $100 payout plus your investment, whereas Saints fans who get that their team is still well in this can put a $100 money line wager on New Orleans and if they won it would pay out $165 plus the original wager, both fun ways to add excitement to an already thrilling game.

How to Watch Saints vs Buccaneers

• What: New Orleans Saints vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers

• Where: Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL

• When: Sunday, December 4, 2022, at 1:00 PM ET

• How: ESPN