New England Patriots vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers 10/3/21 NFL Picks, Odds, Predictions
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-1) vs. New England Patriots (1-2)
October 3, 2021 8:20 pm EDT
The Line: New England Patriots +6.5 ; Over/Under: 49
(Get latest betting odds)
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New England Patriots meet in Tom Brady’s return on Sunday Night Football at Gillette Stadium. Tampa Bay is coming off a week three game versus the Rams. The Buccaneers ended up losing that one by 10 points. As for New England, they played the Saints in their last outing. The Patriots fell as well, this time by 15 points. Check back all season long for free NFL picks at Sports Chat Place.
Tampa Bay started off their year in a promising fashion, hanging on for a big 31-29 win over the Cowboys in the opener. Week two was another solid offensive showing for the Bucs, as they took out the Falcons 48-25 to move to 2-0 on the season.
Tampa ran into some problems in week three against the Rams. The Bucs gave up 17 points in the third quarter on the way to a 34-24 defeat. QB Tom Brady finished with 432 yards and a score, while also leading the rush with 14 yards and a TD from three carries.
Over on the Patriots’ side, they couldn’t withstand a plucky Dolphins team in their opener, dropping a tough one at home 17-16. New England got a break in week two versus the lowly Jets and didn’t have many issues in a 25-6 win.
In week three versus the Saints, New England found the loss column again. The Patriots gave up a TD in every quarter on the way to a 28-13 defeat. QB Mac Jones finished on 270 yards, one TD and three picks; Kendrick Bourne caught six balls for 96 yards and a score.
The Buccaneers are 5-0 ATS in their last five after an ATS loss and 5-1 ATS in their last six overall. Tampa is also 5-0 ATS in their last five after a straight-up loss.
Meanwhile, the Pats are 42-18-2 ATS in their last 62 in October and 11-5 ATS in their last 16 as an underdog. New England is 2-5 ATS in their last seven overall as well.
PICK: I’m going to take Tampa Bay. New England saw their offense stall for most of the day in their last game, collecting just 49 rushing yards and 16 first downs in the loss to the Saints. The Patriots averaged 4.3 yards per play, punting six times and giving up a pair of sacks.
As for the Buccaneers, they didn’t do much on the ground versus the Rams with 35 rush yards but made up for it with 411 through the air. Tampa allowed LA to go 10-of-15 on third downs however, which kept their defense on the field much longer than necessary.
With Tom Brady back in New England this one should be fun to watch regardless, but I think the Bucs have the edge on the cover.
