Tampa Bay Buccaneers Betting Odds – NFL Football Future Lines
Let’s take a look at the numbers:
betED NFL Sportsbook Odds – Tampa Bay Buccaneers Odds To Win NFC South – +450
Season Over/Under Win Total Betting Odds From beted.com – 4.5
Jeff Garcia used to say that former Bucs coach Jeff Gruden fell in love with quarterbacks but never married them. Well, Garcia is gone (to Oakland), and Gruden has involuntarily departed (to Monday Night Football), and what’s left isn’t particularly pretty.
Luke McCown, Josh Freeman, Josh Johnson and Byron Leftwich are in a free-for-all to see who starts under center for a team that has been unimaginative and ineffective on offense, and ready to take a major step backward. So desperate for playmakers are the Bucs that there is talk about signing Plaxico Burress and/or Michael Vick.
TB gave up 123 points over 4 games in December last year, costing the Bucs a playoff spot and Gruden his job. The last nail in the coffin was a season-ending loss at home to Oakland as the defense sucked wind in the final period, giving up 17 points. 
In response, new coach Raheem Lewis purged a slew of veterans, including LBs Derrick Brooks and Cato June, and RB Warrick Dunn, and signed some younger replacements.
That means trouble in a division which went 32-16 last season against opponents outside the NFC South.
Surprising stat: Last season Tampa Bay gave up fewer yards per game (306) than did 6 playoffs teams, plus 11-5 New England.
Team strengths: Barrett Ruud is among the better linebackers in the NFC. At this writing the Bucs are playing hardball with Ruud on a contract extension.
Team Weakness: Management was really freaked by last season’s collapse and seems to have overreacted with its purge of veterans. In for a dime, in for a dollar, though, and Bucs fans will have to get used to a few years of rebuilding. That Super Bowl win in 2003 gets smaller and smaller in the rear view mirror. What were they thinking when they picked up Kellen Winslow Jr.?
Buccaneers 2009 Season Win Total Prediction – 5
Next Up: St. Louis Rams
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Lawrence Paul is a regular contributor to the Cappers Picks Blog, and is a free-lance gambling and travel writer from Massachusetts.
2 replies on “Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2009 NFL Football Future Lines”
This will definitely be a transition year for the Bucs. With a new coaching staff and a lack of talent in several skill positions, they will have to take the time to let some players develop. The other problem Tampa faces is that the other three teams in the NFC South are clearly better then them.
Starting with the firing of head coach Jon Gruden, after seven years with the organization, the Bucs are undergoing franchise reorganization. A trio of backs will be the Bucs biggest strength. RBs Earnest Graham, Cadillac Williams, and free agent acquisition Derrick Ward will all see some action this season. The defense is young but has some very good potential players in RE Gaines Adams and veteran leaders LB Derrick Brooks and CB Ronde Barber. QBs Byron Leftwich and Josh Freeman will battle it out, and we will probably see Leftwich get the starting position due to his experience, with Freeman taking over at some point mid-season. New head coach Raheem Morris will have to be patient and wait at least a year to find success in the Sunshine State. The Bucs will finish the season at a disappointing 5-11.