{"id":209648,"date":"2025-01-11T13:15:14","date_gmt":"2025-01-11T18:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=209648"},"modified":"2025-01-11T13:15:14","modified_gmt":"2025-01-11T18:15:14","slug":"commanders-vs-buccaneers-predictions-nfl-wild-card-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/01\/11\/commanders-vs-buccaneers-predictions-nfl-wild-card-weekend\/","title":{"rendered":"Commanders vs. Buccaneers Predictions – NFL Wild Card Weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NFL playoffs have arrived, as Wild Card weekend sees six matchups square off for a spot in the Divisional Round.\u00a0 Sunday night will see a showdown between the Washington Commanders<\/a> (12-5) and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/a> (10-7).\u00a0 This matchup should be a fun one to watch, with high-powered offenses on both sides.\u00a0 Let’s take a look at game predictions, best bet, and player props to look out for Commanders vs. Buccaneers on January 12.<\/p>\n

NFL Wild Card Round – Commanders vs. Buccaneers Predictions<\/h2>\n

Betting Odds<\/h3>\n

Moneyline:\u00a0<\/strong>Commanders (+136) vs. Buccaneers (-162)<\/p>\n

Spread:\u00a0<\/strong>Commanders (+3) vs. Buccaneers (-3)<\/p>\n

Over\/Under: Over 50.5 (-105)\/Under 50.5 (-115)<\/p>\n

Game Prediction & Best Bet<\/h3>\n

Commanders 27, Buccaneers 24<\/h4>\n

These two teams’ only meeting came during Week 1 of the season.\u00a0 The Buccaneers convincingly beat the Commanders 37-20 in Jayden Daniels’ first career NFL start, but Washington is a much different team now.\u00a0 Daniels has exceeded all expectations in his rookie campaign and is the overwhelming favorite to take home Offensive Rookie of the Year.\u00a0 The LSU product has had some memorable moments this season, as the Commanders clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2020.<\/p>\n

Regardless of the outcome, this game sets up to be a great watch.\u00a0 Both teams rank top-six in yards per game, while also having weaknesses on the defensive side of the ball.\u00a0 While Daniels rushed for an astounding 891 yards in his rookie season, he will have the biggest advantage through the air on Sunday against a depleted Buccaneers secondary.\u00a0 The Buccaneers rank 29th against quarterbacks this season, allowing 243 passing yards per game.\u00a0 They are also dealing with several key injuries, with CB Jordan Whitehead already ruled out.\u00a0 While Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers have had a respectable season, I think the wrong team is favored here. \u00a0Daniels should utilize his dual-threat ability to help Washington pull off the upset and win their first playoff game since 2005.<\/p>\n

Over 50.5 (-105 on Fanduel<\/a>)<\/h4>\n

This is the largest point total of any game on Wild Card weekend.\u00a0 Nonetheless, I still favor the over here due to these two high-powered offenses and lackluster defenses.\u00a0 Washington has a solid secondary, but they rank 30th in rushing yards per game allowed (137.5).\u00a0 This could be exploited by rookie sensation Bucky Irving, who has been one of the most exciting running backs in the league over the last half of the season.\u00a0 Baker Mayfield’s season also cannot be overlooked, throwing the third-most passing yards (4500) and tied second-most passing touchdowns (41).\u00a0 Both of these teams have shown the ability to score at will this season.\u00a0 I’d be willing to bet that a prime-time shootout is on our hands Sunday night.<\/p>\n

Player Prop Bets<\/h3>\n

Jalen McMillan Over 54.5 Receiving Yards (-113)<\/h4>\n

Jalen McMillan has been an elite playmaker down the stretch.\u00a0 The rookie wideout has recorded 50+ receiving yards in each of his last five games, scoring seven touchdowns over that period.\u00a0 McMillan’s hot streak is difficult to ignore, despite the Commanders boasting a fairly strong secondary.\u00a0 Additionally, fellow wide receiver Mike Evans will have to face his arch-nemesis Marshon Lattimore on Sunday, who he has struggled against in the past.\u00a0 With Evans potentially locked up, I’ll gladly take McMillan’s over in what should be a fast-paced game.<\/p>\n

Jayden Daniels over 8.5 Rush Attempts (-114)<\/h4>\n

While Daniels should utilize his arm against the Buccaneers secondary, I expect he’ll have to use his legs as well on some broken pass plays and QB draws.\u00a0 The Buccaneers defense has the third-highest Blitz rate in the league, which could have Daniels scrambling more than usual.\u00a0 In Week 1, Daniels rushed a season-high 16 times against the Buccaneers and has had at least 9 rush attempts in 4\/5 games.\u00a0 I expect Daniels to make plays both in the air and on the ground on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Main Image: Nathan Ray Seebeck – USA Today Sports<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The NFL Wild Card round has arrived. Let’s take a look ahead to Sunday Night’s matchup – Washington Commanders vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5329,"featured_media":209828,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32810,32539],"tags":[970,308,8895],"class_list":["post-209648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-predictions","category-nfl-betting","tag-nfl-playoffs","tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers","tag-washington-commanders"],"modified_by":"Isaac Zuniga","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5329"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209648"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":209830,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209648\/revisions\/209830"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}