Carolina Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Pick & Predictions

Carolina Panthers (1-10 SU, 2-8-1 ATS) vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-7 SU, 7-4 ATS)

NFL Football Week 13

Date/Time: Sunday December 3rd, 2023. 4:05PM (EST)

Where: Raymond James Stadium Tampa, FL

TV: CBS

Betting Odds:

Point Spread: CAR +5.5/TB -5.5

Moneyline: Panthers +200/Bucs -240

Total: 37

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Last week the Tampa Bay Buccaneers suffered yet another defeat, this time to the Indianapolis Colts 27-20, to fall to 4-7 SU on the season. Despite the pathetic records in the NFC South, the Buccaneers have been unable to capitalize with losses in 6 of the last 7 games. To further complicate matters, the Buccaneers have been competitive in all of those games. In fact, the last 5 losses have all been by a touchdown or less. Needless to say, Tampa Bay is in desperate need to turn things around especially considering they are still just 1 game back in the division race.

This Sunday, the Buccaneers will have one of their more favorable match-ups of the season when they host the Carolina Panthers at Raymond James Stadium. As many are aware, the Panthers have been the worst team in the NFL this season at 1-10 SU and just recently fired Head Coach Frank Reich following last week’s 17-10 loss to the Tennessee Titans. In the interim, the Panthers will be led by Interim Head Coach Chris Tabor who was formerly the Special Teams Coordinator for the organization.

Carolina Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers Betting Analysis

If we ignore all of the outside factors this week, the Panthers will still face an uphill challenge in this week’s road match-up against the Buccaneers. QB Bryce Young has been downright terrible, even for a rookie this season. Young is completing just 61% passing that has resulted in 9 touchdowns and 8 picks on the season. WR Adam Thielen continues to be the only bright spot on the offense and even his production has been limited in recent games. More importantly, the Panthers appear to be at their best when they can run the football and take some of the every down pressure off of their rookie quarterback.

This week both tailbacks Chubba Hubbard and Miles Sanders will have the difficulty of facing a stingy Buccaneers run defense that is allowing just 95 yards per game. Needless to say, this will likely be another Panthers’ performance that relies on the arm of their rookie quarterback. For the Buccaneers, there were some concerns this week about the health of QB Baker Mayfield. Mayfield suffered an ankle injury in last week’s loss to the Titans however the injury is not expected to cause him to miss any time this week. As a result, the Buccaneers should have all of their key pieces on the offensive side of the football which bodes well for WR Mike Evans, WR Chris Godwin, and RB Rachaad White who all have favorable match-ups. Barring any big mistakes this week either by turnovers or allowing big plays, all signs point to the Buccaneers having the best match-ups on both sides of the football.

Panthers vs. Bucs Betting Trends

• The Panthers are 2-7 ATS in the last nine games.
• The Panthers have hit the “under” in each of the last 5 games.
• The Panthers are 1-10 SU on the season.
• The Panthers are 0-6 SU in the last six games on the road.
• The Bucs are 4-1 ATS in the last five games.
• The Bucs have hit the “under” in seven of the last nine games.
• The Bucs are 1-7 SU in the last eight games.
• The Bucs are 5-1 SU and 5-1 ATS in the last six games against the Panthers.

Jay’s ATS Prediction

The fact the Panthers chose a special teams coordinator to lead them for the remainder of the season speaks volumes for the state of the organization. Nothing against Chris Tabor but I don’t think he is the answer to the Panthers’ offensive issues. Add in the fact that this is simply a bad match-up against the Buccaneers, I just don’t see how anyone could take the Panthers this week with so many question marks looming. The Buccaneers still have everything to play for (division/playoffs) while the Panthers seem to have thrown in the towel.

Jay’s Pick: Take the Bucs -5.5