The Carolina Panthers (0-1) will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-0) on Sunday in their home opener and hope starting quarterback Matt Moore will be ready to go after suffering a concussion last week in a 31-18 loss to the Giants.  Moore is expected to start for the Panthers who are current -3 on the NFL point spread against a Buccaneers team that has lost 11 of the last 14 meetings with their NFC South rivals.

Carolina head coach John Fox was left scratching his head after falling to New York, as his team led 16-14 at halftime.  The Panthers – who led the NFL in rushing a year ago with 156.1 yards per game – ran the ball only five times in the second half while Moore struggled to finish with 182 yards passing with three interceptions and one touchdown before leaving.  Rookie Jimmy Clausen made his debut when he replaced Moore but did not complete a pass on two attempts.

Running backs DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart combined for just 74 yards on 21 carries against the Giants and will need to step up like they did last year against Tampa if Carolina is going to get its first win.  The duo rushed for a combined 262 yards and three touchdowns in a 28-21 road win against the Bucs in the first meeting last year, and Stewart totaled 125 more and another score filling in for Williams as the starter in a 16-6 victory at home in the rematch.

One might expect another low-scoring game here with the total set at 40 points or less for the 10^th time in the last 11 meetings.  The UNDER has cashed in the last eight games overall for Tampa, including last week’s 17-14 come-from-behind win over Cleveland.

The Bucs rallied back behind second-year quarterback Josh Freeman, who threw for 182 yards on 17-of-28 passing with two touchdowns and one interception.  Freeman struggled at times as a rookie and endured the worst game of his young career last year against the Panthers with a career-high five interceptions in the second meeting.  He is still dealing with a broken thumb injured in the team’s second preseason game but was ready to beat the Browns.

Tampa Bay’s defense picked off Cleveland quarterback Jake Delhomme twice in the victory and forced three fumbles, one of which was recovered in a key spot when Browns fullback Peyton Hillis coughed it up.  The Bucs failed to sack Delhomme though and will need to put some pressure on Moore if they are going to have any shot to win this game on the road.

Maddux Sports has no opinion on this game but does have 5 solid winners on tap for Sunday.  You can get these picks via our winning nfl picks page of the website.  Remember that one of our picks is our 20 unit AFC East Game of the Year and should be an easy winner.