Wild Card Weekend Predictions and Picks



NFL analyst Howard Schwartz breaks down Cowboys at Bucs with a free pick and offers a bonus teaser play for Wild Card Weekend.

Wild Card Coming Attractions - Cowboys vs Buccaneers

America's team, the Dallas Cowboys, are in the playoffs. They close out this season's Wild Card Weekend when they play in Florida against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tom Brady has a lifetime record of 7-0 against the Cowboys. This Monday Night Football game is predicted to be a ratings winner for the NFL and we expect this to be one of the better games over the weekend. Let's get down to business starting with the odds from Jazz Sports.

Dallas Cowboys             -2.5 (-110)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers  +2.5 (-110)

Over 45.5 points -110
Under 45.5 points -110

Buccaneers wild card free pickThe Buccaneers limped into the playoffs with a 7-9 record and looked like anything but a playoff team. Brady was Brady; however, as we all know, time does march on. Tampa Bay’s offense was never the same after Gronk left. Injuries mounted up and a few players moved on. Inevitably, this led Brady to lose both his blockers and targets to throw to. They are not one of the best teams in the NFL.

The Cowboys come into this game with a 12-5 record. On paper, Dallas is the better team. They have scored 467 points compared to Tampa Bay's 313 points. Cowboys wild card free pickThe Cowboys also gave up 342 points, compared to Tampa Bay’s 358.

Despite the better record, we have to go with the Buccaneers at home. Tom Brady wins games against good teams, Dak does not. It's also worth repeating that TB12 is undefeated against Dallas and this game is in Tampa Bay. However, there’s more to this story than numbers.

The real story of this game is the losses by the 'Boys this season. They lost against Tampa Bay, Philadelphia, Green Bay, Jacksonville, and Washington. All five losses were on real grass and Dallas is a dome team. They are faster indoors and drop a real notch when placed outside. Take a look at the 2021 season and you'll see that four of their five losses were in outdoor stadiums. We like Tampa Bay and their grass plus 2.5 points.

We are also going with a two-team teaser with Buffalo and Cincinnati and then bought a point.

We have Buffalo -6 and Cincinnati -2.5. We are laying $700 to Win $500. 
These two games are ripe for a large bet, since both opposing QBs are out. 

Howard Schwartz has been providing betting insights for over a decade on Facebook. Check out his social media group and website pfww.vegas for more betting tips and NFL wagering advice.


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