Tampa Bay Bucs remain favored for the NFC South

Nothing really went right for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 8. Firstly, they opened the week with a loss on Thursday night. Secondly, the Atlanta Falcons won and they have a lead in the win column over TB now. Thirdly, the New Orleans Saints won in a confident manner. Those results all go against TB’s interests this week.

Tampa Bay’s odds to win the NFC South

The Bucs and the Saints now have identical 3-5 records on the season — which makes things complicated for TB just for second place in their division. However, bet365 sportsbook still has the Buccaneers as a shorter-than-even favorite to win the NFC South this season. They are priced at -110 (10/11) to win the division following Week 8.

Looking back at our archives, this is a division that we have a history of looking at for betting odds. On October 18th, we advised taking the Falcons to win the division at +650 (13/2). The Falcons are now first placed and they have odds of +175 (7/4) to claim the division.

Can TB change its ways?

Where exactly is Tampa Bay going to find some inspiration? They have seemed deflated at times this season and unproductively angry at other times.

However, anyone that wants to back the Bucs can ground some confidence in the team’s willpower. Tom Brady won’t just passively accept the poor results: there will be an attempt to improve — and not every 3-5 team will be like that.

Looking further than the Bucs and the Falcons, New Orleans does really complicate this division. Imagine a scenario where Andy Dalton keeps getting a passer rating of 117.2 on average week in and week out. Then imagine that Michael Thomas and Jarvis Landry both return to playing and imagine that the receivers play well. How good does New Orleans look in a division where 4-4 is tops?

The Bucs have the LA Rams coming up in Week 9. After that, they will the Seattle Seahawks in a game that will come from Munich, Germany. That looks like 4-6 at best when they head into their bye week.