Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Carolina Panthers Preview
Where: Bank of America Stadium– Charlotte, North Carolina
When: Monday, October 10, 8:25 PM ET
Line: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+4) vs. Carolina Panthers (-4); total: 44.5 – view all NFL lines
TV Broadcast: ESPN
Writer’s Pick: Carolina Panthers (-4)
Betting on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+4)
Things aren’t looking too good for the Bucs at the moment. They’ve now dropped to 1-3 (1-3 ATS) after they followed up their impressive Week 1 win over the Atlanta Falcons with three-straight losses, most recently to the Denver Broncos.
Second-year quarterback Jameis Winston’s performance has dropped precipitously since that win, and has become a turnover machine. He has already thrown eight interceptions in the first four weeks of the season. The absence of lead back Doug Martin has been a significant factor in Winston’s slump, as the Bucs have lacked the running game to take some of the pressure off the second-year QB.
Meanwhile, an already struggling Bucs defense will get even weaker with star tackle Gerald McCoy and rookie edge rusher Noah Spence both likely to miss out due to injury.
Those mounting injuries could push Winston to go into gunslinger mode, which could go either way for the Bucs. But Winston does have the weapons to punish the Panthers deep. Carolina’s Josh Norman-less secondary has struggled mightily all season, and is coming off a 500-yard beatdown at the hands of Matt Ryan and Julio Jones.
Mike Evans isn’t quite on Jones’ level, but the 6-foot-5 wideout is certainly capable of getting the better of Carolina’s inexperienced and overmatched corners. Evans had averaged 100 receiving yards and a touchdown per game in the first three weeks of the season before getting slowed down by the excellent Denver Broncos D last Sunday.
Betting on the Carolina Panthers (-4)
The Carolina Panthers have some problems. The defending NFC champions are now 1-3 (1-3 ATS) on the season following their 48-33 road defeat to the Atlanta Falcons, leaving them 2.5 games behind in the NFC South. Star quarterback Cam Newton was knocked out of the Falcons game, and must now pass the concussion protocol in order to play against the Bucs on Monday Night.
Obviously, losing Cam would be a major blow to the Panthers offense. But even if he can’t go, the Panthers should still like their chances of bouncing back from that Falcons loss at home against the Bucs.
The Panthers are 6-0 (5-1 ATS) in their last six meetings with Tampa Bay, home and away. Both of their wins in 2014 actually came without Newton; current backup Derek Anderson started both games at quarterback. Anderson played pretty well, completing 66 percent of his passes for 507 yards with 3 touchdowns and zero interceptions over those two games. He went 17-of-23 with 172 yards, 2 TDs and 2 INTs in relief of Newton against Atlanta.
The Bucs of 2016 still have some of the same problems as in 2014. They still have inconsistent quarterback play which has led to turnovers, as well as a shaky pass defense. While the Panthers defense hasn’t reached last season’s heights, the pass rush is still good enough to pressure Jameis Winston into mistakes and turnovers. They had six picks off Winston in two meetings last season.
Meanwhile, Cam (if he does play) is just too good to struggle in back-to-back games against subpar defenses. Newton has accounted for 12 touchdowns (eight passing, four rushing) in his last four games against the Bucs, and the Panthers as a team have averaged 33.3 points.
Writer’s Prediction
Carolina (-4) bounces back with a 28-17 home win over the Bucs.
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