NFC Wild Card Game Preview: Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Washington Commanders

In a game that many feel will be the most exciting among all the NFC Wild Card games, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers host the Washington Commanders. This game will take place at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay, Florida, with a kickoff set for 8:00 PM. You can watch this game on NBC. 

Oddsmakers at MyBookie have listed the home team Bucs as a field goal favorite in the game with the total set at 50 points for the over/under. Let’s take a look more closely at this NFC Wild Card game. 

Washington Commanders Preview

The Washington Commanders are back in the postseason! They are playing some great football and ended the season with a record of 12-5 SU and 10-6-1 ATS. They’ve won 5 straight games to end the season and are without a doubt one of the hottest teams heading into the posteason!

Commanders will rely on rookie QB Jayden Daniels. Daniels is beating teams not only with his arm but his legs. This guy is elusive and teams must play him closely because if you let him out of the pocket, you are in for a long game.

The downfall to that is the fact that rookie QB’s normally do not do well in the postseason. 

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Preview

Tampa Bay ended the season with a record of 10-7 SU and ATS. They won 6 of the final 7 games of the season and the offense was really playing well at the end. 

Their defense played well also, only allowing the Dallas Cowboys and Carolina Panthers to score more than 20 points on them.  The Bucs are dealing with some nagging injuries on the defensive side of the ball, and that must concern them. 

They are going to have to find a way to slow down this Washington offense or try to outscore them, which is a very good possibility. 

Handicapping and Prediction

Many eyes will be on the QB matchup here in this one. It’s a veteran vs rookie, and that normally favors the vet in the postseason.

While the TB offense will lean on Baker Mayfield, the smart play for the Bucs is to expose the Washington rush defense. They have the worst rushing defense among all playoff teams and knowing that the Buccaneers have both Bucky Irving and Rachaad White, this could turn into a long day for the Washington Offense.

We expect that rushing attack will be utilized in a manner to keep the Washington offense off the field. They don’t want to let the rookie quarterback get loose and get in a rhythm where he can dictate the pace of the game.

That favors a lower scoring game than what the experts predict. We are going to go with the under here and hope defense and rushing burns the clock!

Pick: Under 50