Tampa Bay Buccaneers -3.0 (105)
Sunday January 6 ’08 1:00p
This Wild Card Playoff matchup between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New York Giants looks fairly even statistically, but the Buccaneers appear to have the edge in some key areas.

From an emotional standpoint, we question the wisdom of the Giants’ decision to play their regulars and go all-out for the entire game in an attempt to end New England’s perfect season last week. That tough loss may actually work against them here, and the Giants probably would have been better served by resting their regulars, which is essentially what the Buccaneers have done the last two weeks.

From a physical standpoint, because of the differing approaches these teams took down the stretch, Tampa Bay is the fresher and healthier team entering this game. Granted, Jeremy Shockey was lost for the season a few weeks ago, but most of the other players on this week’s lengthy injury report would not be as nicked up if they had been held out last week.

Perhaps most importantly, in a game that is statistically close like this, the final outcome should be determined by who makes the fewer mistakes. Well, Eli Manning looked great against the Patriots, but he has always had a problem piecing together back-to-back good efforts, and the turnover-prone quarterback should face a ton of pressure here from a Tampa Bay defense that is allowing just 13.5 points and 165.0 passing yards per game at home.

Conversely, few quarterbacks manage a game as well as Jeff Garcia, who threw just four interceptions while tossing 13 touchdown passes this year. We look for Garcia to be the better quarterback today, and that should result in a Bucs victory.

NFL Free Pick: Buccaneers -3 (+105)

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