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The short-handed Tampa Bay Bucs (2-0) have signed Cole Beasley to their practice squad ahead of the Week 3 showdown versus Green Bay.
Beasley was released by the Bills in March and did not sign with another team as a free agent during the offseason.
His assistance will be greatly be needed in light of the one-game suspension of star receiver Mike Evans for his participation in Sunday's brawl with the Saints. Evans and cornerback Marshon Lattimore were both ejected from that game.
It's not just Evans the Bucs will be missing. Veteran receivers Chris Godwin and Julio Jones are also out with injuries.
Beasley finished with 82 receptions in each of the past two seasons with the Bills.
The Bucs have gone from a -3-point home favorite to a -1-point favorite and Green Bay could end up a favorite as the week progresses.
70% of the early spread action was on Green Bay, likely the reason behind the major line shift.
Sagarin, which does not factor in recent injuries, has a number of Tampa 6.02 on this game for their newly released numbers. The current line of Bucs -1 represents a 5-point underlay.
Tampa Bay has beaten Green Bay the past two seasons. At home in 2020, the Bucs beat the Packers 38-10. Tampa would go on to win the Super Bowl that season.
The Packers are 7-2 Against The Spread in their last 9 games after accumulating more than 150 yards rushing in their previous game and 9-3 ATS in their last 12 games following a ATS win.
They are also 12-5 ATS in their last 17 games following a Straight Up win.
But Green Bay has gone 1-7 Against The Spread in their last 8 games after allowing less than 250 total yards in their previous game.
The Buccaneers are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 vs. NFC and 11-3 ATS in their last 14 home games.
As a favorite since 2017, Green Bay has gone 45-13 Straight Up (77.6%). But it matters more if they remain a dog as Green Bay has gone 10-19-1 (34.5%) Straight Up over that same time span.
Some numbers of note as of 3 pm ET Tuesday:
DraftKings was still holding at -2.5.
FanDuel had moved off the -3 to -2.5.
Bovada had dropped to -2 as of 8:46 am ET Tuesday.
BetOnline had moved to -1 off the -2 at 2:15 pm ET Tuesday.
- Tony Caliente, Gambling911.com
