The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are one-point home faves over the San Francisco 49ers, according to US betting sites. Like ABC in 1980, the Bucs won’t be welcoming back Koetter. Dick Koetter led Tampa Bay to a 5-11 record in 2018 (7-7-2 ATS per the best online sportsbooks). On the whole, Koetter failed to return the Bucs to the postseason in three years in Tampa Bay. That adds up to 11 straight non-playoffs seasons for the franchise. One of the few highlights of the team’s 2018 season was their No. 1 320.3 passing yards per game. Ryan Fitzpatrick contributed 295.7 passing yards per game. Fitz also had career-bests in yards per attempt (9.6) and passer rating (100.4). But he’s with the Miami Dolphins now, so never mind all of that. The Bucs’ have dusted off head coach Bruce Arians, last seen in 2017 leading the Cardinals to an 8-8 record.
San Francisco 49ers vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Week 1 Betting Information
- Date: Sunday September 8
- Time: 4:25 pm ET
- Venue: Raymond James Stadium
Odds from Intertops.eu:
| Team | SP/RL | TOTAL | ML | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 49ers | +1 (-115) | 49 (-115) | – |  |
| Buccaneers | -1 (-105) | 49 (-105) | – | |
|
||||
Betting San Francisco
Time is running out for general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle ‘Sha Na Na’ Shanahan. Their second season with the Niners was even worse than the first. San Fran finished 4-12 in 2018 (5-11 ATS according to US betting sites). How long can they blame their misfortunes on Jimmy Garoppolo’s injuries? Here’s a thought: find a QB who can play more than a couple of games without slipping on a banana peel. As Chris Biderman of the Sacramento Bee writes, “Shanahan and Lynch believe [a healthy Garoppolo can win a ring]. They’re essentially staking their jobs on it.”
Jimmy G is expected to start the 2019 season with a clean bill of health. But Michael Robinson thinks Garoppolo will take a backseat to the Niners’ running game. The 49ers rushed a mediocre 118.9 yards per game last season. However, they signed running back Tevin Coleman in March. Coleman rushed a career-high 800 yards and, 4.8 yards per carry, and 50 yards/ game in 2018 with the Falcons.
Betting Tampa Bay
James Winston is, even with Fitzpatrick in the fold, the once and future Bucs starting quarterback. And that’s not necessarily good news. Winston has yet to throw fewer than 10 picks in a single season. Funny how his fingers are so slippery on the field yet so sticky when riding Uber. In 2018 Winston threw fewer than 20 TDs for the second straight season, as well as 14 interceptions.
And that’s why the Bucs went spelunking for Arians. Supposedly, he is a “quarterback whisperer.” And according to Buccaneers.com staff writer Carmen Vitali, “Jameis Winston is a Bruce Arians Quarterback.” Because he supposedly has several of the qualities that Arians’s book says a QB should possess. Like heart. Arians: “He must have heart – a big heart, a lion’s heart, a heart that beats for an entire franchise.” Vitali: “You’d be hard-pressed to find a guy with more heart than Winston, both on and off the field.” Me: It takes a lot of something to steal soda from a Burger King, and it ain’t heart, I tell you what.
Betting Prediction: San Francisco 49ers vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Let’s roll call some of the QBs Arians has supposedly influenced. Peyton Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, Andrew Luck, and Carson Palmer. Not to knock on Palmer, but one of those things is not like others. The way I see it, Arians was just lucky until Arizona. I predict Winston will fall in the Palmer category and not be grouped with the Mannings and Big Bens. But let’s say for the sake of argument that Arians is a great QB coach. So what? So was Shanahan a great offensive coordinator and a fat lot of good it has done him in San Francisco. I’ll take a healthy Jimmy G over Jameis Winston any day and so should US betting sites users.
