One of the two teams taking the field for Week 15's Thursday night matchup has something to play for. The other, not so much.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-6) are tied atop the NFC South with the Panthers with four weeks remaining in the season. The Atlanta Falcons (4-9) have been eliminated from playoff contention, but look to hand Tampa Bay its second straight loss.
Tampa Bay was tripped up at home last Sunday by New Orleans, 24-20, suffering its fourth L in the last five games.
Atlanta has lost seven of the past eight contests, as the Seahawks routed the Falcons last Sunday, 37-9.
The Bucs rallied past the Falcons, 23-20 in Week 1 to avenge a season sweep by Atlanta in 2024.
Let’s look at our top TNF picks for the Falcons vs. Bucs Thursday night’s battle at Raymond James Stadium, kicking off at 8:15 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime.
NFL TNF: Falcons vs. Bucs Prediction, Spread, Over/Under
The Buccaneers have not covered the spread in five consecutive games, while the Falcons have covered twice in their past eight outings.
Falcons vs. Bucs Over/Under, Spread
The Bucs enter this matchup as 3.5-point favorites, returning a 1.38x payout on PrizePicks Team Picks if they win outright.
The Falcons are road underdogs with a 2.85x payout if they win, via PrizePicks Team Picks.
- Spread: Tampa Bay Bucs -3.5
- Total: 44.5
- Game Winner Payout: Falcons 2.85x | Bucs 1.38x
(Team Picks data is live as of publishing and is subject to change)
Falcons vs. Bucs Picks & NFL DFS
Here are three top Falcons vs. Bucs picks to target on Thursday. Key PrizePicks player projections are headlined by Tampa Bay QB Baker Mayfield, Atlanta RB Bijan Robinson, and Bucs WR Emeka Egbuka.
Bucs QB Baker Mayfield vs. Falcons Projection: 219.5 Yards
- Mayfield was in the MVP discussion earlier in the season, but he has not thrown for more than 194 yards in any of his last four games.
- In the last six games, the top pick of the 2018 draft has reached 220 passing yards once. He posted 273 yards in a 28-23 home loss to New England in Week 10.
- In the opening week victory at Atlanta, Mayfield was limited to 167 passing yards. He connected with WR Emeka Egbuka on a 25-yard go-ahead TD in the final minute, his third straight game against the Falcons with 3 TD passes.
- The Falcons have allowed opposing QBs to throw for more than 240 yards in five of the last six games.
Falcons RB Bijan Robinson vs. Bucs Projection: 74.5 Rushing Yards
- Robinson eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards for the second straight season after racking up 86 yards in last Sunday’s loss to Seattle.
- The former University of Texas standout has put up at least 75 yards on the ground in four of the last five games. His lowest rushing output in this span was 70 yards in a Week 12 win at New Orleans.
- In the Week 1 defeat to Tampa Bay, Robinson scampered for a 50-yard TD reception on the third play of the game. However, he was limited to 24 rushing yards on 12 attempts.
- The Bucs yield a shade above 100 rushing yards per game, ranking ninth in the league. Tampa Bay has not allowed an opposing rushing back to post at least 75 rushing yards in the last four games.
Bucs WR Emeka Egbuka vs. Falcons Projection: 44.5 Receiving Yards
- The first round pick from Ohio State leads Tampa Bay with 806 receiving yards on 54 catches.
- The Tampa Bay receivers have been hit by the injury bug all season, as veteran WR Mike Evans returns to the lineup after missing the last six games with a broken collarbone.
- Since hauling in 115 yards in the Week 10 loss to the Patriots, Egbuka has combined for 129 receiving yards in the past four games.
- In his NFL debut at Atlanta, Egbuka scored the game-winning 25-yard TD and finished with 67 receiving yards.
- In three of the past four home contests, the 23-year old has failed to bust 42 receiving yards.
Make Picks on NFL on PrizePicks
The Buccaneers look to get on track in this critical division showdown against the Falcons. Can Atlanta play spoiler and avenge the last-minute loss from Week 1?
There’s never been a better time to add to the excitement of every NFL moment than with PrizePicks.
There is a wide variety of player stat projections on the NFL board, so you can build your Lineup however you’d like — with no salary or positional restrictions. Just pick at least two player stat projections to build your Lineup on PrizePicks.
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