After knocking off the New Orleans Saints with a 30-20 victory, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers now move on to Green Bay to battle the Packers in Sunday’s NFC Championship Game as 3.5-point underdogs on the NFL odds at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Tampa Bay’s victory extended the team’s current straight-up win streak to six games, and sets the stage for the team to make its first NFC Championship Game appearance in 18 years when they hit the gridiron for Sunday afternoon’s matchup at Lambeau Field.
Listed as 2.5-point underdogs in their NFC Divisional Playoff clash, the Buccaneers rose to the occasion. Tampa Bay overcame three New Orleans leads on its way to its first SU and against the spread win over the Saints in its last six tries.
The Buccaneers’ defence played a massive role in the team’s success, forcing four turnovers, including a pair of crucial fourth-quarter interceptions to seal the win. The turnovers also provided Tampa Bay quarterback Tom Brady with a big assist. All four turnovers resulted in the Buccaneers taking over the ball in Saints territory, setting the stage for a pair of scoring passes by the 43-year-old pivot.
Having rewritten a losing narrative against the division-rival Saints, the Buccaneers now visit Green Bay looking to record their first SU victory at Lambeau Field since 2005. Overall, Tampa Bay has dropped three of their last four to the Packers, but turned in an impressive performance in a 38-10 home victory as a 2.5-point underdog at sports betting sites back in October. Both Brady and the Buccaneers defence stood tall in that meeting. Brady connected on a pair of scores to erase an early Green Bay lead, while the Tampa Bay defence kept Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers out of the end zone while tallying a pair of picks.
Overall, Brady holds the edge when facing Rodgers, earning the win in two of three head-to-head meetings. However, the Buccaneers defence will face an enormous challenge in shutting down Rodgers this time around. A heavy favourite on the odds to win the NFL MVP award, Rodgers has connected on 37 total scoring passes in 12 outings since that Week 6 loss to Tampa Bay. The 37-year-old’s performance has been key to the current seven-game win streak that has lifted the Packers to the top of the Super Bowl odds.
The Packers have also been dominant on the frozen tundra at Lambeau Field, winning outright in six straight games there while limiting opponents to just 18.2 points per game, capped by this past weekend’s decisive 32-18 victory over the Los Angeles Rams.
