NFL Sportsbook – Redskins Try to Improve Unhealthy Atmosphere

If you bet in the NFL sportsbook, and follow the game closely, you know that the Washington Redskins have been battling an unhealthy atmosphere this season, but they think they have taken steps to reverse it.

On Sunday they have a real challenge as they take on the Tampa Bay Bucs at FedEx Field in Landover, MD. The game kicks off at 1 PM ET and will be televised by Fox Network. In the NFL sportsbook odds on the game, the visiting Bucs are a 1.5-point favorite, with the over-under posted at 41 points.

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NFL Sportsbook Betting

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-5 SU, 8-4 ATS) at Washington Redskins (5-7 SU, 6-5-1 ATS)

Live at FedEx Field

Landover, MD

Sunday, December 12 — 1 PM ET

TV: FOX

NFL Sportsbook Odds:

Tampa Bay -1.5

Washington +1.5

Total 41

Here are some of the NFL sportsbook trends as they impact our play on this game:

• Tampa Bay has played 13 of its last 19 games UNDER the total
• Tampa Bay has played four of its last six games OVER the total
• Tampa Bay has played seven of its last ten road games UNDER the total
• Tampa Bay has won six of its last eight road games SU
• Washington has played four of its last six games UNDER the total
• Washington has lost four of its last five games SU
• Washington has covered one of its last five games
• Washington has covered six of its last 20 home games
• Washington has lost four of its last five home games SU

Washington Redskins coach Mike Shanahan said he had enough; he said that Albert Haynesworth wanted to continually dictate when he went in the game and when he came out; that he didn’t want to play any scheme his defensive staff came up with. At the end, there was no choice but to release him. Of course, the flip side is that Haynesworth signed a big-money deal with the ‘Skins and then found out that they were going to a 3-4 alignment, which wasn’t the format that helped him become an All-Pro. But it was just another coordinator forcing a scheme on everybody. How’s that scheme doing? Well, Washington has allowed 397 yards a game, more than anyone in the league. So who was right and who was wrong? And what does that mean in the NFL sportsbook for this week?

Well, for one thing, it means that we can dispense with the talk about what the Redskins are going to do to thwart Tampa Bay in its offensive pursuits. If the Bucs can’t move the ball, it will be because of their own silly mistakes, and teams have had a tendency not to make many silly mistakes against Washington, which has only eleven interceptions in 12 games.

Here are the head-to-head NFL sportsbook betting trends on this game:

Nine of the last 13 meetings have gone UNDER the total
Four of the last six meetings in Washington have gone UNDER the total
Washington has won four of the last five meetings SU as the home team

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Some people are down on the Bucs because they have lost two games in a row, and that they haven’t performed all that well against good teams this season. Those losses were against Baltimore and Atlanta, and they were competitive in both,. It is true that they have beaten pretty bad teams with the exception of a one-point win over St. Louis, but Washington is not a very good team right now, so a straight-up win certainly is well within their reach, and that would constitute a cover in the NFL sportsbook since the line is a near pick’em.

You have to remember that even though Josh Freeman has completed just 58% of his passes, he has shown extraordinary poise, with just six interceptions. LeGarrette Blount is most certainly the answer at running back, at least this year (599 yards, 4.5 ypc). Meanwhile, Donovan McNabb has been picked off 15 times and been sacked 35 times. Tampa Bay’s defense is better, and the Bucs have covered eight straight games on the road. Oh by the way, to show you that Haynesworth wasn’t the only problem, tight ends coach Jon Embree has already left the nation’s capital for a college job at Colorado. We’re with the Buccaneers in the NFL sportsbook this week.

JAY’S PLAY: TAMPA BAY -1.5 ****
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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