It’s the two teams I thought would compete for the NFC South meeting up for the first time this season. The Carolina Panthers (4-3), who actually are in the mix, travel to Raymond James Stadium to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-4), who are not.
This game will be forced into your home via cables, internet connections and satellite signals from the FOX television network and its affiliates at 1 p.m. EST.
The Game: Carolina Panthers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-1.5)
O/U: 46.0
The History
The Bucs and Panthers have played each other 33 times with Carolina holding a 20-13 advantage in the all time series.
Tampa Bay swept the Panthers last season, winning 17-14 at Bank of America Stadium on October 10, 2016 and 17-16 at Raymond James Stadium on January 1, 2017.
CAROLINA PANTHERS (4-3)
The Panthers have dropped two straight games and last Sunday’s pathetic 17-3 loss to the Chicago Bears really hurts. Carolina scored all the touchdowns in that game for the other team, with Cam Newton fumbling and throwing a pick that were both taken into the paint by someone in an opposing jersey.
The spark that Christian McCaffrey was supposed to add to this offense has been more a squeaky fart. Last week McCaffrey had seven rushes for all of 10 yards and seven catches for 36. Before the preseason, I was convinced that McCaffrey was a tad overrated as you could see from my pre-draft running back rankings. He looked so good in the preseason I changed my mind, predicting he’d win offensive rookie of the year. That’s what I get for not trusting myself.
Some bright spots? Devin Funchess has become an integral part of the offense and is a good balance on the outside opposite Kelvin Benjamin. Last Sunday Funchess caught four passes for 41 yards. Benjamin had three for 65. Greg Olsen has left a cavernous hole in this offense and it really shows how smart Carolina was to draft Curtis Samuel. He needs to develop into a slot receiver for this offense to pick back up again.
The team can breath a sigh of relief after All-Word middle linebacker Luke Kuechly was cleared from the concussion protocol. Ryan Kalil is still out with a neck injury. John Theus hasn’t left the concussion protocol and Fozzy Whitaker is still dealing with an ankle. Kicker Gragam Gano didn’t practice Friday and is listed as questionable, but did suit up Wednesday and Thursday.
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS (2-4)
The Buccaneers have lost three games in a row a contender would win. It’s all been from their shitty play on defense, bad playcalling and dumb mistakes. More like this should spell the end of Dirk Koetter’s head coaching career, which would make him the second straight guy fired after getting featured on HBO’s Hard Knocks. For the Bucs’ sake, I hope it happens.
Against the Buffalo Bills, quarterback Jameis Winston was 32 of 44 for 384 yards, three touchdowns and a pick. That’s all good, but somehow they still lost thanks to a defense that surrendered 268 passing yards to Tyrod Taylor of all people. It wasn’t just Taylor, LeSean McCoy ran all over the Tampa Bay defense in spite of a healthy Lavonte David and Kwon Alexander. The Buccaneers mustered just one sack and five stops in the backfield.
On the bright side, O.J. Howard had a nice breakout game with six catches for 98 yards and two touchdowns. On the not so bright side, Mike Evans should have eaten the Bills up alive, but he didn’t. He was productive, catching seven passes for 88 yards and a score, but there shouldn’t have been a defensive back that could run or hang with him. That means bad play design on Koetter’s part.
Tampa will be without three cornerbacks, which could make this one a free for all for Funchess and Benjamin. Brent Grimes, Robert McClain and Josh Robinson will all be in street clothes. Everyone else should play.
The Pick
The Buccaneers have cemented their contender to pretender status over the last few games. I see no reason to think they’ll change it up Sunday. Carolina is coming off a bad loss and I’m not convinced Newton is 100 percent. Still, they should have enough on both sides of the ball to take this one on the road. Panthers 23, Buccaneers 20
This week
Straight up: 0-1
Against the spread: 0-1
Last week
Straight up: 12-3
Against the spread: 7-8
Season
Straight up: 60-46
Against the spread: 50-56
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