Philadelphia Eagles @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers tips and picks: All the momentum with the home side

The NFL Wild Card Round has been quite the spectacle so far and it continues on Monday as the Philadelphia Eagles visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Texans annihilated the Browns, The Rams pushed the Lions all the way and the Packers ended the Cowboys’ home dominance, thrashing them 48-32.

The public expectation here might be that the Eagles get their act together, cover the small spread and progress to the next round.

However, the 10-1 Eagles lost five of six to end the regular season, plummeting to 11-6 and going from number one seed to playing on the road in the first round.

Jalen Hurts seems to be playing through an injury and AJ Brown is absent too, and rumours are swirling that he’s not a happy bunny.

The most notable issue they have is allowing over 25 points per game. Only two teams allowed more during the regular season, which doesn’t scream playoff run.

It’s a lot easier to be scored on when you’re not forcing turnovers, which this defence generally hasn’t done. That exacerbates the fact the offence is turning over the ball.

The Buccaneers are the polar opposite. They finished the season with five wins in six to make the playoffs and they didn’t give the ball away very often.

They did a particularly good job of protecting quarterback Baker Mayfield, which is good because they barely rush the ball.

The defence allowed 20 or fewer points in four of their final six and capped off that run with a 9-0 shutout on the final day of the season.

Despite all of the above, there’s still an expectation that the Eagles get it together, Darius Slay’s return helps, Mayfield struggles, and Hurts finds the gap in Tampa’s secondary.

It’s not that easy to flip a switch and change the momentum and we’re willing to beat the Bucs will move the ball better than in the early season meeting.

Suggested bets

Tampa Bay Buccaneers +2.5