Carolina Panthers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL
Sunday, November 14, 2010, 1:00 pm EDT, TV: FOX
Opening Line: Buc -7.5
Current Line: Bucs -7
Opening Total: 35
Current Total: 37
Money Line: Bucs -300 / Panthers +250
The Carolina Panthers (1-7) have enjoyed success recently in Tampa Bay, but they find things a lot tougher this time around when they visit the Buccaneers (5-3) on Sunday. The Panthers have won six of the last seven meetings in Tampa, but the Bucs (-7) are a much different team this year behind rising young quarterback Josh Freeman and will be going for the season series sweep.
Carolina is giving the starting quarterback job back to rookie Jimmy Clausen after Matt Moore tore his labrum in a 34-3 loss to New Orleans last week. To make matters worse, the team will also be without its top three running backs due to injuries, which means fourth-stringer Mike Goodson gets the important job of helping balance out the offense for Clausen.
The Panthers have struggled mightily on offense this season, ranking last overall in scoring with just 11 points per game and total offense with 244.4 yards per game. Clausen completed 8 of 18 passes for 47 yards with no touchdowns and one interception against the Saints, prompting head coach John Fox to bench him in favor of fellow rookie Tony Pike. However, Pike did not perform much better, completing 6 of 12 passes for 47 yards with no touchdowns or picks.
Defensively, Carolina boasts one of the top five pass defenses in the NFL, giving up 190.3 yards per game through the air with 11 interceptions. The Panthers allowed Freeman to complete 12 of 24 passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns in dropping the first meeting between the teams 20-7 back in Week 2, as he hit rookie wide receiver Mike Williams with a 35-yard scoring pass.
Williams has been Freeman’s top target this season, hauling in 36 passes for 559 yards with five touchdowns. His development has helped the growth of Tampa’s young offense that also features another rookie in running back LeGarrette Blount. The team’s running game had been suspect until the emergence of Blount, who has rushed for 238 yards and two touchdowns in the last three games.
The Bucs shut down Carolina’s offense in the first meeting, holding Moore and Clausen to a combined 184 passing yards while DeAngelo Williams, Jonathan Stewart and Goodson totaled 117 rushing yards between them. The Panthers had won the previous three meetings with Tampa both straight-up and against the spread along with four of the last five. The UNDER has cashed in the last two meetings and has gone 7-1 in the last eight games against NFC South opponents for the Buccaneers.
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