Baker And Bucs Will Crush Commanders

Commanders vs. Buccaneers, 8:00 ET

Death, taxes, and God hating the Cleveland Browns. I'm not sure those are the true certainties of life, but it feels very close, doesn't it? Why am I bringing up the Browns in a playoff football article when they were a laughing stock for the majority of the season? The reason is because we have a quarterback in this game that used to play for them in Baker Mayfield, and the Browns missed on drafting a quarterback in this past draft class which looks like it will be a very good one. Sorry, Cleveland fans. Enough bashing them, let's get to picking what to play in this game between the Commanders and Buccaneers. 

The Commanders opened quite a few eyes this past season and the credit almost entirely goes to Jayden Daniels. They went from having nothing going for them last year to now being in the playoffs and winning 12 games. Daniels will be the Rookie of the Year, and they can make some noise in this one if they are able to give the Buccaneers a run for their money. There is no reason to think Daniels will shrink under pressure, having played on big stages before, though so has almost every starting quarterback in the league and some of them still stink in the playoffs for some reason. The problem with the Commanders is they are a bit one-dimensional. They need Daniels to do everything for them. Obviously, he is their leading passer, but he also leads the team in rushing yards and carried the ball 148 times this year. Over half of his touchdown passes went to Terry McLaurin, so I do think this game might be a bit easy for the Buccaneers to prepare for on defense. Washington has the third-best passing defense in football, but the Buccaneers are better at mixing up their offense. 

LANDOVER, MARYLAND - DECEMBER 22:  Jayden Daniels #5 of the Washington Commanders celebrates his touchdown pass against the Philadelphia Eagles during the fourth quarter at Northwest Stadium on December 22, 2024 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Timothy Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

Tampa Bay won their division for the second year in a row and the career resurgence of Mayfield continues as a Buccaneer. He seems to be really enjoying his time there, but his teammates seem to love him as well. Once regarded as a bust, it is nice to see him playing well. And, saying he is playing well, is probably an understatement. He tossed 41 touchdowns this season and threw for exactly 4,500 yards. The one knock is he also threw 16 interceptions which was among the league leaders. Still, this team is balanced. They have a great receiving option in Mike Evans, and even though their second option (Chris Godwin) is no longer available due to injury, they still have found a way to get other guys involved. Bucky Irving has been a very good running back option with 1,122 rushing yards and eight touchdowns for the year. He should be involved heavily against a Commanders defense that is one of the worst at stopping the run. Tampa has one of the best rush defenses in the game, and if the only person they need to worry about is McLaurin, I think they should be at a significant advantage.

I think Tampa is a much better team than the book is giving them credit for. The Buccaneers, for the most part, have played good football this year. I think they should be favored by five or six points, but it is just -3 right now. I'm going to take them to cover this spread as I think they should win this one with an edge on both offense and defense. Bucky Irving props are also worth playing the over and him for the first touchdown of the game.

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