First, it was the Cincinnati Bengals.
Then it was the Baltimore Ravens.
Now, you can add the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to the list.
For the third straight week, the most popular Survivor pick fell in an upset loss. The Broncos dominated the heavily favored Bucs from the jump, racing out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. They took a 20-7 lead into halftime and never looked back in a 26-7 win.
More than a quarter of all Survivor picks (26%) backed the Bucs to handle the Broncos at home. It made sense, considering Tampa Bay entered 2-0 with a pair of impressive victories while Denver was 0-2 with rookie quarterback Bo Nix still looking for his first TD pass.
It wasn't just Survivor League players who got crushed by the result. The Bucs covering the six-point spread had the most amount of bets (77%) and money (82%) on it. They were also the most popular team on the moneyline, with 96% of all tickets and 93% of the money.
Although the Buccaneers weren’t the most popular team in the renowned Circa Survivor Pool, their loss took a big bite of those still alive, with 17.2% of entries selecting them. The Circa Survivor Pool is the most high-profile tournament in the country, as the winner is guaranteed at least 10 million dollars. This year’s purse is in excess of $14 million. It costs $1,000 to enter the tournament with a maximum of 10 entries per player.
Tampa Bay backers knew they were in trouble from the start when Nix found paydirt just over four minutes into the game. He's still looking for his first touchdown pass of his career, but he had a nice day, finishing 25-of-36 for 216 yards while carrying the ball nine times for 47 yards.
The ground game ran roughshod over the Bucs in general to the tune of 136 yards. Meanwhile, the defense shut down a Tampa Bay offense averaging the fourth-most points through the first two weeks of the year (28.5). It forced a pair of turnovers at the most opportune times while holding the Buccaneers to just 3-of-11 on third down and 0-2 on fourth.
