The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+7) are heading north to visit their NFC South nemesis Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium. This early afternoon game is scheduled to get underway at 1:00 p.m. ET and FOX will broadcast the action.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers Betting Preview
The Buccaneers approach this Sunday NFC game as the dog here and are currently getting 7 points. The Buccaneers are also receiving +230 moneyline odds while the Panthers are -280. Vegas has determined the over/under (O/U) to be 54 points. There could be some good live betting opportunities in this game.
With the line opening at -7 and the O/U set initially at 53.5, bookmakers have shifted the odds slightly.
Both of these teams have been profitable this season as the Buccaneers have gained 1.4 units and the Panthers are ahead 3.8 units.
The Buccaneers are 3-4 straight up (SU), including 1-1 SU against NFC South opponents. The Panthers are 5-2 SU overall and 0-1 SU against divisional foes.
The Bucs are on the rebound after a narrow 37-34 defeat to Cincinnati in Week 8. the Buccaneers completed 29-of-50 passes for 470 yards, three touchdowns and four interceptions. Jameis Winston went 18-for-35 for 276 yards, one touchdown and four interceptions while Ryan Fitzpatrick completed 11-of-15 for 194 yards and two touchdowns. Peyton Barber (85 rushing yards on 19 attempts, one TD) mounted the ground attack in the loss. Adam Humphries (seven receptions, 76 yards) and Mike Evans (six catches, 179 yards, one TD) shared the receiving duties.
Carolina enters this one after just getting a 36-21 win over Baltimore last week. The team’s defense allowed the Ravens to run for 101 yards on 18 rush attempts, along with one rushing TD. Alex Collins had a good outing in the defeat for Baltimore, recording 49 rushing yards and a score on 11 attempts. For Carolina, Cam Newton completed 21-of-29 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns. Christian McCaffrey (45 rushing yards on 14 attempts, one TD) and the signal-caller Newton (52 yards on 10 carries, one TD) led the ground game in the win as D.J. Moore (five receptions, 90 yards) and Greg Olsen (four catches, 56 yards, one TD) led the pass-catching corps.
Tampa Bay has run the ball on 36.8 percent of its offensive possessions this year while Carolina has a rush percentage of 44.3 percent. The Buccaneers have produced 91 rush yards per game (including 117 per game versus South opponents) and have five touchdowns via handoffs this year. The Panthers are totaling 139 rushing yards per game (121 in conference) and have seven total rush TDs.
It appears that the Panthers should hold an advantage when it comes to quarterback protection. Their offensive line has given up just 10 sacks while their D-line has registered 18 sacks. The Buccaneers O-line has allowed 21 sacks and their defense has got to opposing QBs on just 16 occasions.
The Bucs offense has averaged a stout 390 yards through the air overall (406 per game against conference opposition) and has 19 passing scores so far. The Panthers have produced 237 pass yards per outing (335.0 against NFC competition) and have 13 total pass TDs.
Defensively, Tampa Bay has allowed opponents to run for an average of 97 yards and pass for 333 yards per game. The Carolina defense has allowed 269.7 yards per game to opposing passers and 95.9 yards per game on the ground. The Panthers are allowing an adjusted net yards per pass attempt (ANY/A) of only 5.97 to opponents, while the Buccaneers have given up an ugly 9.16 ANY/A.
Offensively, Winston has amassed 816 passing yards this year. He’s completed 67 percent of his 96 attempts with six scores through the air and eight interceptions. He’s got a 5.13 adjusted net yards per pass attempt overall, although that number is 3.63 over the last two outings.
We expect the Tampa Bay offense to mix it up in this one. Mike Evans, O.J. Howard and Peyton Barber have combined to account for 536 total yards and three touchdowns over the last couple of outings.
On the other sideline, Cam Newton has managed to complete 133-of-199 passes for 1,377 yards, 11 TDs and four INTs. Newton’s ANY/A sits at 6.62 for the year and 7.84 over his last two outings.
Similar to the Buccaneers, expect a balanced attack offensively from Carolina this Sunday. D.J. Moore, Christian McCaffrey and Cam Newton have combined for 395 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns as a trio over the last couple of games.
RELATED: Week 9 NFL Betting Odds and Predictions
Free Prediction: Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Carolina Panthers
SU Winner – Panthers, ATS Winner – Buccaneers, O/U – Under
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Notes
Betting Trends
The Buccaneers offense has produced 10 pass plays of 40 or more yards, while the Panthers have accounted for one such play.
Both teams have allowed three pass plays of 40+ yards. The Tampa Bay defense has given up 15 pass plays of 30+ yards while Carolina has yielded eight such plays.
The Tampa Bay offense has created three rushing plays of 20 or more yards, while Carolina has created five such runs.
The Buccaneers defense has allowed seven rushing plays of 20 yards or more, while the Panthers have given up five such runs.
The Carolina defensive unit has sacked opposing quarterbacks 18 times this season. Tampa Bay has produced 16 sacks.
Tampa Bay has averaged 4.6 yards per carry over its past three games and 4.1 over its last two.
Carolina has averaged 5.2 yards per carry over its last three contests and 5.5 over its past two.
Over its last three matchups, Carolina is 2-1 ATS and the under cashed in two of those three.
The Over/Under for Tampa Bay’s last game going into it was 55. The over cashed in the team’s 37-34 defeat to Cincinnati.
In its last three matchups, Tampa Bay is 1-2 ATS and the over cashed in two of those three.
The Over/Under for Carolina’s last matchup was 44. The over cashed in the 36-21 victory over Baltimore.
Carolina has won five of its last six games SU, with a -6-point defeat to Washington on October 14th accounting for its only loss over that stretch.
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