Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers
Time: 3:25 PM CT
Spread: CAR -11.5
Total: 46
Betting odds c/o Pincle
The Carolina Panthers fell last week 20-13 against the Atlanta Falcons, and the 14-1 Panthers need to win this week to assure the No. 1 seed and home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. It will host the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a game NFL oddsmakers are setting the line 11.5-points in favor of Carolina.
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The Falcons took down Carolina on a 70-yard TD pass to Julio Jones. The Panthers managed just 13 points in the game as Cam Newton threw 17 of 30 for 142 yards. Newton was sacked twice in the game for 29 lost yards and managed just a 39.2 passer rating in the contest.
Newton did gain an additional 46 yards on seven carries, including the lone Panthers’ TD. The Panthers got good production from both Cameron Artis-Payne and Fozzy Whittaker. The tandem combined for 81 yards on 10 carries as Carolina had 155 rushing yards in the game.
It will need more of that production with Jonathan Stewart still unable to go for this one. Artis-Payne is averaging 4.5 yards per carry on 31 attempts this season but he has not scored a TD. Whittaker has rushed for 108 yards on 25 carries with a TD. He is expected to sit out with a leg injury.
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Accordingly, the Panthers will assuredly push Newton to rush often in this one as the team’s most productive ball carrier with Stewart and Whittaker both unable to go.
Newton’s receiving corp will be at half staff too. TE Greg Olson leads the team in yardage with 1,088 on the season and he has caught 75 of 121 targeted passes while racking up the second-most TDs on the season, with seven. The No. 1 WR Ted Ginn Jr is expected to sit, and that hurts given that he leads the team in TDs with 10.
Jerricho Cotchery may be targeted early and often, and the 12th year WR from NC State has caught four passes in each of his past two games. He has just 24 receiving yards in the loss to Atlanta, but he caught 4 of 5 targeted passes.
But make no mistake, this is a Carolina team that wins mostly on the brilliance of Newton. He has thrown for 3,544 yards this season on a 58.6 percent completion clip with 33 TDs and just 10 INTs on the season. Newton has rushed for an additional 626 yards on 126 carries with a team-high eight rushing TDs on the year.
Newton threw for over 3,100 yards last season, but he has cut down on the interceptions while increasing his workload. It is evidenced by his 97.0 passer rating, which marks the highest of his career. This QB Rating is also a 65.3 which represents the highest of his career. The 5th year pro from Auburn is coming into his own, and the Panthers are going to be a feared playoff team whether or not it secures home field advantage. It would be a crushing blow to the team’s confidence however, to close the season with two losses.
The Buccaneers meanwhile are putting the finishing touches on another losing season at 6-9 and out of the postseason. Jameis Winston has had his bumps and bruises, but it has been a decent showing for the rookie all things considered. He has put in a full season and amassed 3,717 yards while averaging 236.2 yards per game.
Winston has had issues with interceptions and has thrown 13 on the year, while also having been sacked 25 times. Even so, with 199 rushing yards and five rushing TDs on the year, he has solidified himself as one of the better dual-threat QBs on the rise. And perhaps that is setting the bar low for a Heisman winner and No. 1 overall draft pick.
The Bucs have been carried by RB Doug Martin, who has 1,354 yards on the season and six TDs. WR Mike Evans has also had a big season as Winston’s No. 1 target. Evans has 1,107 yards on the season and three of the Bucs’ 22 receiving touchdowns. Vincent Jackson (out for season with a torn MCL), Charles Sims, Austin Seferian-Jenkins and Cameron Brate all have three or more TDs on the season.
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