Sportsbook info has the Tampa Bay Buccaneers still undecided on their starting quarterback for the 2009 season. Head coach Raheem Morris has said that he has not made a decision yet. The Bucs are 50-1 longshots in Super Bowl odds at the offshore sportsbook.
Sportsbook odds have the Tampa Bay Buccaneers an underdog this season in the NFC South. One of the reasons is the quarterback situation. NFL betting indicates that Tampa Bay has Byron Leftwich and Luke McCown competing for the starting job with rookie Josh Freeman looking at needing more time. Josh Johnson is the fourth quarterback as offshore sportsbook information indicates and he doesn’t seem to be in the mix. “We’ve still got to meet and evaluate,” Morris said, “To be honest with you, more than one of them stepped outside of their box a little bit and kind of showed some things. … We asked for competition and we’re getting it.”
The battle between McCown and Leftwich looks to be pretty even as sportsbook info indicates. Leftwich is 12 of 26 for 124 yards, one TD and no interceptions while McCown is 10 of 17 for 70 yards with two TDs and no interceptions as sportsbook stats show. “It’s tough to evaluate, but it’s a decision the coaches have to make,” McCown said. “Once that decision is made, then it’s about everyone else being ready to play if called upon. It’s about doing whatever is necessary to help this football team win games in the regular season.”
What could make this sportsbook situation interesting is that the loser might not get the backup job. “There’s no givens. There’s going to be a first guy picked, a second guy picked, a third guy picked,” Morris said, “One time I said I’m not going to keep four quarterbacks. I don’t know if that’s even true anymore. We’ve got to go back and evaluate everything. We’re going to keep the best 53 people.”
Tampa Bay is 6.5 to 1 to win the NFC South this season in sportsbook odds. To give you an idea of how big a longshot that is for the division at the offshore sportsbook, the other three teams, Atlanta, Carolina and New Orleans have sportsbook numbers of 2-1 or less. The Bucs definitely have some work to do and will be underdogs a lot at the offshore sportsbook in 2009.