Buccaneers vs. Cowboys Odds Shift Towards Tampa Bay Ahead of Thursday Night Football in Week 5

Thursday Night Football in Week 5 features an interesting NFC clash between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Dallas Cowboys, though Baker Mayfield's thumb injury has caused a rather lopsided spread between these teams.

Oddsmakers opened this game with the Cowboys set as 10-point favorites at home, but that line has actually moved in Tampa Bay's favor even though Mayfield did not practice on Tuesday and is not expected to play in Week 5.

DraftKings Sportsbook has dropped the the Bucs down to just 8.5-point underdogs on the road even though they've yet to win a game this season and are expected to start undrafted rookie Jalon Daniels for the second straight game.

Tampa Bay is also 0-4 against the spread, including an 0-2 mark as an underdog after it failed to cover a 2.5-point spread against Green Bay in Week 4. Daniels (two interceptions in that loss) led the Bucs to just 14 points in the first start of his NFL career.

Dallas has played just one game at home in the 2026 season (against Washington in Week 2) and it covered the spread in that win. The Cowboys are also coming off a monster win against the Houston Texans in Week 4 to get themselves back to .500 this season.

Despite that, bettors have actually wagered quite a bit on the Bucs to cover in primetime, according to DraftKings. As of Wednesday morning, DraftKings is reporting that 43 percent of the spread bets and 10 percent of the moneyline bets for this matchup are on Tampa Bay.

Dallas still is receiving the majority of the bets to cover the spreadd, but it's possible that action on Tampa Bay caused this line to come down 1.5 points. Dallas is -112 to cover the spread, so it's possible this line could jump back to Dallas -9 by kickoff on Thursday.

The SI Betting team has already made multiple picks on a side -- in Iain MacMillan's Road to 272 column -- and a total -- in my betting preview -- for the first matchup in Week 5.

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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