FirstSnap.net / This week / Today's free pick
Snapshot Sat 1:44a ET / live data
Gold Zone, This week’s free pick

TB @ CIN

Sun, Sep 13 at 1:00p ET / Paycor Stadium / 87°F
Gold Zone TB @ CIN, FG ML away

We like Tampa Bay on the full-game moneyline at 45%, +9.6 percentage points against the de-vigged Pinnacle price.

This is the widest gap we will publish between our number and the sharp line, after the bookmaker margin is stripped from both sides — a gap far wider than this one means our model is broken, not that the market is, so we hold the pick rather than headline it. The 1st-quarter model reads the opening quarter from each team’s measured Q1 scoring and allow rates, shrunk toward the league average by how many games stand behind them. It then blends that read with Pinnacle’s own 1st-quarter line, weighted mostly to the book: the price carries injuries, weather and late news our team rates cannot see, so we anchor on it and publish only where we still disagree. The full-game numbers come from a separate model built on the same team data, not from this one carried forward. Every market we price for this game is listed below, with our number next to the book’s.

The numbers we publish for every game

Model probabilities for the opening quarter, Sat 1:44a ET
Cincinnati leads after the 1st quarter 41% TB 37%, level 22%. The Q1 market our back-testing found signal on.
Tampa Bay scores in the 1st quarter 66% Context only: its offence against CIN’s Q1 defence. Back-testing found no edge here, so we publish no pick on it.
Cincinnati scores in the 1st quarter 68% Context only: its offence against TB’s Q1 defence. Back-testing found no edge here, so we publish no pick on it.
Opening drive ends in points 55% Context only, and averaged over both possible receivers — the coin toss has not happened. Back-testing found no edge here, so we publish no pick on it.
Someone scores in the 1st quarter 92% Context only: scoreless the other 8%. Back-testing found no edge here, so we publish no pick on it.
Which team is ahead when the quarter ends
TB 37%
Tampa Bay Buccaneers leads at the end of the 1st quarter
Scores at all 66%, context only
CIN 41%
Cincinnati Bengals leads at the end of the 1st quarter
Scores at all 68%, context only
Q1 PTS 9.6
Points we project in the opening quarter, both teams combined
Opening drive ends in points 55%

The opening drive

Whichever team receives the kickoff, on its first possession
Opening drive ends in points 55% How often the opening drive ends in a touchdown or a field goal. The coin toss has not happened, so we do not know who receives: we run each offence’s opening-drive scoring rate against the other’s allow rate, shrink both toward the league average, and average the two cases evenly. Context only: back-testing found no edge on this market, so we publish no pick on it.

Every market we price

Priced against Pinnacle. The bookmaker margin is stripped from both sides before we compare
Market Our number Pinnacle Edge Confidence
1st quarter
Away team leads at the end of the 1st quarter the market the backtest found signal on 48% +134 +6.5 Wager on away
1st quarter total points we project in the quarter 9.6 10 -121 +0.5 no bet
Away team scores in the 1st quarter context only - no edge, no pick 66% our number only
Home team scores in the 1st quarter context only - no edge, no pick 68% our number only
Opening drive ends in points context only - no edge, no pick 55% our number only
Someone scores in the 1st quarter context only - no edge, no pick 92% our number only
Full game
Total points in the game we project 47.0 50 -105 +9.4 Gold Zone on under
Game margin we project 1.6 4 -111 +6.2 Wager on away
Who wins the game win probability for the side we like 45% +174 +9.6 Gold Zone on away
Some rows carry our number, but no edge. An edge is the gap between our projection and Pinnacle’s price once the bookmaker margin is stripped from both sides, so it needs a posted line to measure against. Pinnacle prices the 1st-quarter moneyline, spread and total, but only from roughly a week out; the per-side scoring, opening-drive and any-score numbers no book prices at all. We publish those projections regardless, because they are what we built the model to produce. An edge appears on a row automatically as soon as a line is up.

“Our number” is the model’s projection. “Pinnacle” is the posted price. Edge is the gap between the two once the bookmaker margin is removed from both sides.

The other 15 games

You just read one snapshot. There are 15 more like it.

Every game on the slate gets the same treatment: which side scores first, opening-drive scoring, the 1st-quarter total and margin, and every full-game line. Re-priced every five minutes against Pinnacle, right up to kickoff. One flat price, no upsells.

Month or season pass. One-time, nothing to cancel. 21+ in legal states
Locked Wed 8:20p ET
NE @ SEA
Our number
•••
••
🔒
Locked Thu 8:35p ET
SF @ LAR
Our number
•••
••
🔒
Locked Sun 1:00p ET
NO @ DET
Our number
•••
••
🔒
Locked Sun 1:00p ET
NYJ @ TEN
Our number
•••
••
🔒
Free pick. No signup. One free call per week, refreshed with the slate
FirstSnap™ is an analytics product, not a sportsbook. 21+ and present in a state where wagering is legal. 1-800-GAMBLER.