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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers shocked the NFL world last week rallying from a 17-3 deficit to beat arguably the best team in the NFC in the New Orleans Saints 20-17 in overtime. It was the Buccaneers, who own one of the worse records in the NFC, 2nd straight win equaling their first winning streak since November of 2008.

The Buccaneers now have some confidence surrounding their once pitiful offense and look to keep building their momentum heading into 2010 when they will play host to the Atlanta Falcons this Sunday afternoon.

The Atlanta Falcons own the best record at 8-7 of any team not in the playoffs, but unfortunately for Atlanta the NFC playoff picture has already been decided. The Falcons were definitely expected to be in the postseason this year, but a midseason stretch that resulted in 6 of 8 losses led to their demise.

However, the Falcons have knocked off two straight wins including a blowout over Buffalo last week 31-3. QB Matt Ryan tossed 3 touchdowns for 250 yards in the victory and the Falcons seek one more final win in the season finale against the Buccaneers this Sunday.

The interesting match-up this Sunday will be the emerging Atlanta defense against an emerging Tampa Bay offense. The Falcons defense has held opponents to just 10 points combined over their last two contests while failing to allow a touchdown in 7 straight quarters.

The Buccaneers offense has suddenly become effective as well. Rookie QB Josh Freeman has struggled with interception problems, but has put together two solid performances where he has completed nearly 65% during those games.

Freeman threw for 271 yards against the Saints last week. Also, running back Cadillac Williams has proved that his number of touches must increase. Williams has averaged over 5.5 yards per carry over the past two games and ran for 129 yards on the ground against the Saints. With both sides of the ball for each team playing well, it will be interesting to see which side wins the battle when the two step on the field together in week 17.

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The New Orleans Saints route to perfection ended last week when they battled a Dallas Cowboys team that played excellent, possibly in result to their backs being against the wall in the postseason race. However even though the Cowboys played great, the Saints still had opportunities to win the football game which is a testament to the team’s strength.

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The Saints will now attempt to rebound when they host the 2-12 Tampa Bay Buccaneers inside the Superdome. The game marks the best in the NFC in the Saints against the worse team in the conference in Tampa Bay. The Saints have to be expected to be on the vengeance path following last week’s loss and it will be interesting to see if the Buccaneers will be able to contend. More at Live Sports Nation – Watch Live NFL Match

Tampa Bay’s problems this season have fallen on both sides of the football. The offense ranks 29th overall averaging just 15.3 points per game and the defense ranks 25th overall giving up over 25 points per game. However, the Buccaneers are coming into the contest off their 2nd win of the season which was a 24-7 victory against Seattle. The Buccaneers secondary forced 4 interceptions to help conquer the Seahawks and their secondary will be the biggest factor in their fate this weekend.

It is no secret that the Saints have the top offense in the NFL behind QB Drew Brees and the pressure will be on the Tampa Bay secondary. In actuality the Buccaneers secondary may be the biggest strength of the team ranking 8th in the NFL allowing just 204 yards per game. However, even if the secondary plays well they will likely have to force a ton of turnovers again because their offense simply does not have the firepower to keep pace with the New Orleans offense.

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In the Monday night game, San Francisco defeated Arizona and I’m ready to put out my week 15 NFL power rankings.

Here are some NFL Power Rankings for Week 15 (NFL Week 14 Rankings are in brackets):

1 (1) New Orleans Saints (13-0): Another week, another close win and struggling against bad teams but still undefeated.

2 (2) Indianapolis Colts (13-0): The Colts just won their 22nd regular season game.

3 (3) Minnesota Vikings (11-2): Dominant victory against the Bengals last time out and nice to see Adrian Peterson return to form.

4 (4) San Diego Chargers (10-3): The Chargers continue to roll in December and Heading into week 15 with 8 straight wins.

5 (7) Philadelphia Eagles (9-4): 4 straights wins is good for a top spot in the power rankings and a messy win, but still a win. Are the Eagles starting to utilize Michael Vick?

6 (9) Green Bay Packers (9-4): Green Bay might actually have a defense and with cold winter weather in full effect on the Frozen Tundra of Lambeau Field, Aaron Rodgers may start passing less, leaving Ryan Grant to pick up the slack.

7 (5)  Cincinnati Bengals (9-4): The Bengals passing game needs to improve if they want to be an elite team and will the real Cincinnati please stand up?

8 (6) Dallas Cowboys (8-5): Another week of the “Tony Romo doesn’t produce in December” conversation and home loss to the Chargers sends Dallas down to #8.

9 (8) Arizona Cardinals (8-5): Nothing went right on Monday night football and still maddeningly inconsistent. With a division title in their grasp, they give up seven turnovers.

10 (12) New England Patriots (8-5): Brady’s injury is affecting that offense and the rankings and at least took a couple of seasons for Randy Moss to implode?

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11 (15) Baltimore Ravens (7-6): Nothing went wrong against the Lions and the Ravens are hurting at the tight end position.

12 (10) Denver Broncos (8-5): Brandon Marshall had a great day.

13 (11) New York Giants (7-6): So talented yet so inconsistent this NFL season and the Giants defense can’t seem to stop anybody.

14 (13) Jacksonville Jaguars (7-6): Maurice Jones Drew has been solid in fantasy and how are the Jaguars still in the playoff race? They might not be for much longer when the face the Colts on Thursday.

15 (16) Miami Dolphins (7-6): Putting themselves back in the NFL playoff picture and with the Pats floundering, could the Dolphins win the division?

16 (17) New York Jets (7-6): 3 straight victories have the Jets thinking playoffs again and don’t look now but the Jets have won three in a row.

17 (18) Tennessee Titans (6-7): Could move up in our power rankings with a week 15 victory and Chris Johnson continue to dominate.

18 (20) Houston Texans (6-7): Offense is so good but the defense and Matt Schaub had 300 yards in passing by halftime.

19 (21) San Francisco 49ers (6-7): 49ers showing life after a rough stretch and after going to the spread offense, it’s nice to see the Niners go back to Frank Gore and the ground game.

20 (14) Pittsburgh Steelers (6-7): 5 straight losses heading into week 15 and who would have thought the Cleveland Browns would hand the Steelers a death blow?

21 (19) Atlanta Falcons (6-7): Missing Matt Ryan and Michael Turner badly and as if the team doesn’t enough problems with its injuries, Jonathan Babineaux goes and gets himself arrested.

22 (22) Carolina Panthers (5-8): Are you allowed to call out an opponent for “quitting” after they just beat you? Injuries are killing these guys this year.

23 (26) Buffalo Bills (5-8): Another NFL team that could use some consistency and their defense came up big against the struggling Chiefs.

24 (23) Chicago Bears (5-8): Such a good arm and such poor decisions and just playing out the string.

25 (24) Seattle Seahawks (5-8): Not much love for Seattle in the week 15 power rankings and ditto for the Seahawks.

26 (25) Washington Redskins (4-9): Playing much better football lately and Quinton Ganther looked promising.

27 (27) Oakland Raiders (4-9): Is Justin Fargas really the son of Antonio “Huggy Bear” Fargas? Looking good until JaMarcus Russell came back.

28 (28) Kansas City Chiefs (3-10): Offense is struggling heading into week 15 and the Chiefs offense is a mess.

29 (30) Cleveland Browns (2-11): Doing their best to avoid the top draft pick and I’m sure the Browns stink, but they stink less than they used to.

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30 (29) Detroit Lions (2-11): Played about as bad as possible last week. Running back Kevin Smith, one of the team’s few bright spots this season, is done for the year.

31 (32) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-12): Not getting blown out has them here in our rankings. Stretching back to last season, the Bucs have lost 16 of their last 17.

32 (31) St. Louis Rams (1-12): Last in power rankings but let’s expect some thing about Keith Null.

Check out NFL Picks and odds for Week 15 and for upcoming week in this NFL Regular season.

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Think about it – they nearly lost to the St. Louis Rams and they absolutely gutted their betting faithful in a 28-24 win when they had a double-digit spread to cover.

Injuries have started to pile up for the New Orleans Saints’ defense, and their offense has had trouble taking care of the ball.

Those factors, along with some recent close calls and their struggles of late against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, make Sunday’s matchup far from a sure thing for the Saints even though they’re facing one of the league’s worst teams.

New Orleans (9-0) could be missing at least three defensive starters — cornerback Jabari Greer (groin), defense tackle Sedrick Ellis (right knee) and cornerback Tracy Porter (left knee).

Safety Darren Sharper, however, may return after missing last Sunday’s 28-23 win at St. Louis with a left knee injury. Plus, the Saints signed former Pro Bowl cornerback Chris McAlister on Wednesday after losing Porter against the Rams.

Even with those defensive starters playing, the Saints nearly ended their perfect run against an equally meek opponent as the Bucs (1-8).

The Rams cut an 11-point deficit to five with 2:44 remaining, and got the ball back 23 seconds later. That drive ended at New Orleans’ 32-yard line with a fourth-down incompletion in the end zone as time expired.

“I was proud we responded with both corners being out for a good portion of that game. Obviously our defensive tackle, Darren Sharper, our safety — we overcame some things against a team that was coming off a bye and a win,” coach Sean Payton said. “We can play better football, yet I think the team we played is getting better.”

The Saints committed three turnovers, giving them 13 in the last four games.

Drew Brees has seven interceptions and three fumbles in that span as New Orleans has survived some close calls. The Saints overcame a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to win at Miami and struggled to win two home games — they led by four for much of the final quarter against Atlanta and were tied until 4:36 to play against Carolina — before holding off the Rams.

“We’re not content with where we’re at, and we’re certainly not content with the way we’ve played these last few weeks,” said Brees, tied for second in the NFL with 19 touchdown passes. “We need to close the game out when we’re given the opportunity.”

The Saints now go for the longest winning streak in franchise history as they visit Tampa, where they have lost three of their last four visits.

In New Orleans’ previous trip Nov. 30, Brees was intercepted three times, including twice in the final three minutes, as the Buccaneers pulled out a 23-20 victory.

It was the Saints’ third loss in their last four games overall against Tampa Bay, which has held Brees below 300 yards in each victory. The Bucs have won seven of 11 in the series, and only one of the Saints’ last 10 wins over Tampa Bay was decided by more than a touchdown.

New Orleans could also be without running back Reggie Bush, who missed two practices this week as the team tries to rest his surgically repaired left knee. Payton said Bush has had some swelling in the knee, but would not say what Bush’s chances of playing Sunday are.

Additionally, New Orleans is facing a Tampa Bay team that’s made strides since losing its first seven games by an average of 15.3 points.

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Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* GB has played four of its last six games OVER the total
* GB has covered 14 of its last 21 road games
* GB has lost six of its last eight road games SU
* TB has covered one of its last nine games
* TB has lost its last 11 games SU
* TB has played four of its last six home games OVER the total

Also…

* TB has won and covered four of the last six meetings
* GB has won 16 of the last 24 meetings SU
* Six of the last eight meetings have gone UNDER the total
* TB has covered five of the last seven meetings as the home team
* TB has won six of the last seven meetings SU as the home team
* Four of the last five meetings in Tampa have gone UNDER the total

There have been very few things as tragic as watching the demise of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this season. Raheem Morris, hired most likely as a result of the Rooney Rule, has come into the head coaching position with very little in the way of any real experience, fired his offensive coordinator during the pre-season, and has promptly been non-competitive. Between all three quarterbacks – Byron Leftwich, Josh Johnson and Josh Freeman – the Bucs appear to have a little “affirmative action” thing going, but the result has not been much action on the scoreboard, and not much in the NFL betting lines. Well, not enough to overcome a horrid defense.

Morris is supposed to be a defensive “mind,” and if so, we don’t know where that mind went. Tampa Bay’s transition into different pass coverage has produced 16 TD passes for the opposition, as well as 8.7 yards an attempt. They have literally given up 3.2 yards more PER ATTEMPT than their opponents. The run defense is no better (4.7 ypc allowed). They have been outgained by a hundred yards a game.

Leftwich completed 54%, then was removed for Johnson, who was intercepted eight times against 125 attempts. Now they will turn to Freeman, the first-round draft choice who the team desperately wanted to keep on the bench until he was ready. He is not ready, but he is going to play anyway, which is a factor to consider when evaluating NFL betting lines.

Freeman, in his limited action in the pre-season, as well as the last game against New England, has had that “deer in the headlights” look about him, so expect that he will make plenty of mistakes in this, his first start. The Packers have intercepted 13 passes this season; if 3-4 alignments cross up people like Peyton Manning, imagine what they are going to do to Freeman, who doesn’t even have an opportunity to get “coached up” much from the staff.

The only thing that might be able to keep this from becoming a total fiasco would be if the Bucs got a whole lot of pressure on Aaron Rodgers, who’s been sacked 31 times. But Tampa Bay only has eleven sacks in seven games, and it looks like Green Bay could be in better shape this week with Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher back on the offensive line.

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McNabb and the Eagles now travel to Washington to take on the Redskins who might be worse than the Oakland Raiders. Washington is 2 and 4 on the season and 1-4-1 against the spread. The ‘Skins have only beaten two teams in 2009 and both of those teams haven’t won a game yet.

Washington beat the St. Louis Rams 9 to 7 and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 16 to 13. In both games, Washington played just as badly as their two opponents, but somehow found a way to pull out a victory. Against any team with a semblance of respect, the ‘Skins have failed miserably save for a 20 to 17 victory over the Carolina Panthers on the road, their one win against the spread as they were 5 point underdogs in that game.

Here are the NFL betting odds for this game.

Philadelphia Eagles -7 -110 -300 O 37 ½ -110
Washington Redskins +7 -110 +250 U 37 ½ -110

Below are a few online wagering trends for this game.

* The Philadelphia Eagles are 5 and 1 ATS in their last 6 games on field turf.
* The Philadelphia Eagles are 13 and 6 ATS in their last 19 games on the road.
* The Washington Redskins are 2-9-3 against the spread in their last 14 games overall.
* Now, let’s see how the offenses and defenses matchup.

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Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* TB is 0-5 ATS in its last five games
* TB has lost its last seven games SU
* TB has played four of its last five games OVER the total
* TB has covered two of its last six road games
* TB has lost eight of its last 11 road games SU
* TB has played four of its last five road games OVER the total
* WASH has covered one of its last eleven games
* WASH has lost six of its last eight games SU
* WASH has played nine of its last 11 games UNDER the total

Also…

* TB has won nine of the last 13 meetings SU
* Eight of the last 12 meetings have gone UNDER the total
* WASH has won four of the last six meetings SU as the home team

Both of these teams suffered extreme indignity last week. The Buccaneers hosted the New York Giants and not only got shut out (24-0), but also were held to just 86 TOTAL yards, while allowing the Giants to ramble for 228 yards on the ground. The Redskins, who are listed 13th in the NFC Week 4 Power Poll, in some ways did even worse, losing to the Detroit Lions, who we all know by now had lost 19 straight games. I guess if there’s some consolation, it’s that the ‘Skins did manage to outgain Detroit in the game.

Tampa Bay has reacted by making a change at quarterback, where Byron Leftwich was benched after he completed seven of 16 passes for 22 yards. The new quarterback isn’t Josh Freeman, who was drafted in the first round this past year, but instead it’s Josh Johnson, who came in for Leftwich in a mop-up role.

There are some scouts I have talked to who insist that while Freeman may not be ready to take over an NFL offense, Johnson is even more of a project. On the plus side, he offers quite a bit more mobility than Leftwich, who was a very stationary quarterback.

Johnson played FCS ball in college, and showed potential. His teammates think he can bring another dimension to the offense, and tackle Jeremy Trueblood was effusive. “People gravitate toward him and follow him. What else would you want in a quarterback? He’s one of the smartest guys on the team, especially when it comes to football.”

Washington’s problems have been present even as they have a “veteran” at the helm in Jason Campbell. They have scored more than 20 points just once in the last eleven games, which makes it very dangerous for them to be laying more than a field goal in any game.

Campbell has completed almost 68% of his passes, but where are the points to show for it? Where was the offense at the end of the Detroit game, when Campbell really had to get them moving toward the end zone?

Campbell represents a natural failing of the West Coast offense – lots of dinking and dunking on short passes, but you still have to be a playmaker to get the ball into the end zone. That kind of offense does not force the defense to stretch itself down the field.

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