The Tampa Bay Buccaneers visit the Dallas Cowboys in a Sunday Night Football matchup with plenty of shootout potential.
The pregame narrative: Tampa Bay’s all-offence, no-defence approach makes player prop overs an enticing weekly wager. CeeDee Lamb and Rico Dowdle are two players I expect to take advantage of a weak Bucs pass defence and go over their receiving yards props.
Check out my Buccaneers vs. Cowboys prop picks for Sunday Night Football on Dec. 22.
Buccaneers vs. Cowboys prop picks
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Best Bet: Dowdle over 15.5 receiving yards (-109)
Dallas now has a bell-cow running back.
The Cowboys have been feeding Dowdle the rock ever since Dak Prescott’s season-ending hamstring injury. Here are his numbers in six games since Week 10:
- 106 rushing attempts
- 559 rushing yards
- 12 receptions
- 42 receiving yards
The receiving numbers aren’t anything to behold, but there’s reason to believe he’ll be heavily involved in the passing game on Sunday.
Tampa Bay is one of the worst teams in the NFL at covering running backs in the passing game. The Bucs are ceding the third-most receiving yards per game (42.8) to opposing tailbacks, according to Yahoo Fantasy.
Dallas is a slight 3.5-point underdog in this matchup, which means this should be a fairly competitive contest. With the Cowboys likely staying in neutral or pass-first offensive situations throughout, Dowdle should be involved from start to finish.
Bet on Dowdle to put another strong performance together in prime time.
Key stat: Dowdle has logged 70-plus percent of the snaps in three consecutive games.
Quick pick
Lamb over 72.5 receiving yards (-113): Lamb should erupt for a massive performance on Sunday Night Football.
Cooper Rush is feeding Lamb with targets as the backup quarterback knows where his bread is buttered. Here’s how Lamb has fared in Rush’s six games as the starter:
- 10 targets per game
- 6.8 receptions per game
- 71.5 receiving yards per game
His average yards per contest mark is just short of what this line requires, but a plus matchup should help lift him over the mark.
The Bucs are surrendering the 10th-most receiving yards per game (154.0) to wide receivers.
Lamb will likely line up across from Jamel Dean in this contest, and Dean has struggled against some top wide receivers. He ceded 87 yards to Jameson Williams and 81 yards to Courtland Sutton, according to Player Profiler.
Lamb has topped this total in each of his last two games.
Picks made at 3:44 p.m. ET 12/21/2024.
Stevie’s an avid NFL, NHL, and tennis bettor who has no problem talking himself into the underdog. His previous stops include Yahoo! Sports Canada and Toronto Metropolitan University, where he received a degree in Sport Media.