The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Cleveland Browns meet Sunday in NFL action from FirstEnergy Stadium. Tampa Bay is 5-5 so far and coming off a bye week. As for Cleveland, they’re sitting at 3-7 after a loss to the Bills. Check back all season long for free NFL picks at Sports Chat Place.
Tampa Bay has had quite the up-and-down season. The Bucs went 3-2 in their first five games with wins over the Cowboys, Saints and Falcons. It’s been a 2-3 run since then with losses to the Steelers, Panthers and Ravens before wins over the Rams and Seahawks.
In the Seahawks matchup back on November 13, the Bucs had a 14-3 lead going into the final quarter. Tampa was outscored 13-7 from there but hung on for the 21-16 win. Tom Brady posted 258 yards with two scores and a pick in the victory.
Over on the Cleveland side, they started off the year at 2-1 with wins over the Panthers and Steelers. The Browns lost four straight to the Falcons, Chargers, Pats and Ravens before a win over the Bengals and another loss to the Dolphins.
Matched up against the Bills on Sunday, the Browns took a 13-10 deficit into halftime. Cleveland gave up 18 more points in the second half for a 31-23 loss. QB Jacoby Brissett finished with 324 yards and three scores. Kareem Hunt led the rush with 32 yards.
The Buccaneers are 4-0 ATS in their last four in Week 12 and 3-0-1 ATS in their last four in November. Tampa is 1-3-1 ATS versus a team with a losing record.
Meanwhile the Browns are 16-35-2 ATS in the last 53 in November and 2-5 ATS in their last seven in Week 12. Cleveland is 1-4 ATS in the last five on grass.
PICK: I’m going to stick with Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers should be fresh and ready to go here as they’ve had a couple of weeks to get ready. Tampa Bay posted a nice defensive effort against the Seahawks in their last game, giving up 283 yards (39 rushing), 19 first downs and just 1-of-9 on third-down tries.
As for Cleveland, they’re coming off another lost game and a lackluster performance on both sides of the ball. The Browns did some good things defensively but could only come up with two sacks and zero turnovers. I don’t think they’ll be able to stay with Tampa.