NFL Thursday Night Football heads to the Georgia Dome this week for a NFC South clash between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Atlanta Falcons. The game is set to kick things off at 8:30 p.m. (ET) and it will be broadcast nationally on NBC. The betting odds posted in Las Vegas have risen from opening number of  -5, favoring the Falcons, to -6.5 points currently. The NFL betting total is listed at 44.5 to 45.5 at various online sportsbooks.

Expectations were running high in Tampa Bay this offseason with Lovie Smith in place as the new head coach and first-round draft pick Mike Evans set to revitalize the offense as a big-play wide receiver. So far it has been pretty much the same old thing with losses to Carolina and St. Louis at home both straight-up and against the spread behind an offense that has scored a grand total of 31 points.
Evans leads the team in receptions with nine for 86 yards, but he has yet to find the end zone. Josh McCown has completed 38-of-56 attempts for 362 yards and two touchdowns and Bobby Rainey is the team's leading rusher with 156 yards on 26 attempts.

Atlanta made a huge splash on opening day with a stunning 37-34 overtime victory over another division rival New Orleans as a three-point home underdog on the closing betting odds posted at VietBet. The Falcons went on the road this past Sunday as 4.5-point underdogs against Cincinnati and their high-flying aerial attack led by Matt Ryan was grounded in a 24-10 loss. The difference between the two games was night and day. Ryan threw for a franchise record 448 yards as part of 568 yards of total offense against New Orleans. These numbers dropped to 231 yards passing and 309 total yards against the Bengals.

This Thursday night becomes a huge crossroads game for both of these teams. A 0-3 start by the Bucs could send their season spiraling out of control and Atlanta is still trying to figure out whether it is the team that went 13-3 in 2012 or the one that only managed four SU victories last season.

I would have to lean towards the Falcons in this matchup as six-point home favorites on the NFL betting odds currently posted at VietBet. They have won eight of the last 11 meetings SU and they have already proven that they are a different team at home, while Tampa Bay has to take its show on the road for the first time this year.

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