Eagles vs Buccaneers Wild Card Prediction & Best Bets: Will Philly’s Floundering Finish Carry Over Into the Postseason?

Two teams trending in opposite directions will meet to close out Super Wild Card Weekend, as the sliding Philadelphia Eagles will visit the rising Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8:15 pm ET, ESPN/ABC).

Entering December, the Eagles warranted heavy consideration as the team to beat for the Lombardi Trophy. Through 12 weeks of the season, they were 10-1, and they had beaten the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills in consecutive weeks.

But a blowout loss at home to the San Francisco 49ers kickstarted a slide that saw the Eagles not only miss out on the top seed in the NFC but also miss out on the NFC East titles. Philly dropped five of six to end the season, resulting in the Dallas Cowboys moving past them to take the division title and the #2 seed in the NFC.

Headed in the other direction are the Buccaneers, who were 4-7 entering December. But the switch flipped for Tampa, and they won five of their last six games and edged the New Orleans Saints for the NFC South title via a tiebreaker.

These two teams met at Raymond James Stadium in Week 3, with the Eagles claiming a 25-11 win behind big nights by D’Andre Swift, A.J. Brown, and Philadelphia’s defense. The favored Eagles covered in that matchup, but they could be in line for a much closer game in Monday’s rematch.

Philadelphia Eagles vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers Odds

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Spread

• Philadelphia Eagles -3 (-105)
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers +3 (-115)

Over/Under

• Over 43.5 (-110)
• Under 43.5 (-110)

Moneyline

• Philadelphia Eagles -160
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers +140

2023 Regular Season Results for Philadelphia Eagles (11-6, 5-4 away)

• New England Patriots (9/10 – away): won 25-20
• Minnesota Vikings (9/14 – home): won 34-28
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9/25 – away): won 25-11
• Washington Commanders (10/1 – home): won 34-31 (OT)
• Los Angeles Rams (10/8 – away): won 23-14
• New York Jets (10/15 – away): lost 20-14
• Miami Dolphins (10/22 – home): won 31-17
• Washington Commanders (10/29 – away): won 38-31
• Dallas Cowboys (11/5 – home): won 28-23
• BYE
• Kansas City Chiefs (11/20 – away): won 21-17
• Buffalo Bills (11/26 – home): won 37-34 (OT)
• San Francisco 49ers (12/3 – home): lost 42-19
• Dallas Cowboys (12/10 – away): lost 33-13
• Seattle Seahawks (12/18 – away): lost 20-17
• New York Giants (12/25 – home): won 33-25
• Arizona Cardinals (12/31 – home): lost 35-31
• New York Giants (1/7 – away): lost 27-10

2023 Regular Season Results for Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-8, 4-4 home)

• Minnesota Vikings (9/10 – away): won 20-17
• Chicago Bears (9/17 – home): won 27-17
• Philadelphia Eagles (9/25 – home): lost 25-11
• New Orleans Saints (10/1 – away): won 26-9
• BYE
• Detroit Lions (10/15 – home): lost 20-6
• Atlanta Falcons (10/22 – home): lost 16-13
• Buffalo Bills (10/26 – away): lost 24-18
• Houston Texans (11/5 – away): lost 39-37
• Tennessee Titans (11/12 – home): won 20-6
• San Francisco 49ers (11/19 – away): lost 27-14
• Indianapolis Colts (11/26 – away): lost 27-20
• Carolina Panthers (12/3 – home): won 21-18
• Atlanta Falcons (12/10 – away): won 29-25
• Green Bay Packers (12/17 – away): won 34-20
• Jacksonville Jaguars (12/24 – home): won 30-12
• New Orleans Saints (12/31 – home): lost 23-13

Eagles vs Buccaneers Prediction and Best Bets

All picks listed below are courtesy of BetOnline unless otherwise noted. Bet these plays there and get a 100% BONUS on your first cryptocurrency deposit.

Prediction: Buccaneers to win

The postseason offers the opportunity to wipe the slate clean and shake off regular season struggles and issues. But will the Eagles do that?

I’m not so sure that they will.

In their 10-1 start, seven of their wins were by seven or fewer points, including four in a row against the Commanders, Cowboys, Chiefs, and Bills.

In several of those wins, the Eagles found themselves in a hole or a tricky situation and were able to navigate out of it. It would appear that supply of good fortune seems to have mostly dried up, judging by how the final six games went.

A run could be on the horizon for the Eagles, but there’s also a good chance that 10-1 was as good as it was going to get for them this season.

A further headache for the Eagles is the finger injury that QB Jalen Hurts is dealing with. Hurts suffered the injury in the regular season finale against the Giants and has yet to be able to throw this week, but all indications are that he will play.

Even if he isn’t severely affected, Hurts has had issues with turnovers this season, as he finished third in the NFL in interceptions (15) and lost four fumbles. In the regular season, the Bucs finished tied for second in takeaways via fumble and tied for seventh in sacks, and they collected two picks against Hurts in the Week 3 matchup.

As talented as the Eagles are, they could not be more frigid right now, and I don’t think a week and a clean slate will thaw them out.

Eagles vs Buccaneers Best Bets: Buccaneers +3 & Eagles/Buccaneers under 43.5

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