Panthers vs. Buccaneers Prediction and Odds for Week 17 (Are we Really Backing Sam Darnold Over Tom Brady?)
By Josh Yourish
The Carolina Panthers are still in it, they’ve gotten help from Tampa Bay and the rest of their division being terrible, but Steve Wilks has done a good job since taking over as interim head coach in Carolina.
He has them at 6-8 and with a chance to take over first place in the NFC South this week by beating the Buccaneers in Tampa Bay. The Bucs will clinch with a win. Unless Tampa Bay wins out, there will be a team with a losing record as the No. 4 seed in the NFC.
Carolina rolled over Detroit at home and Tampa Bay needed overtime to beat the Trace McSorley led Cardinals, but Vegas still sees them as home favorites. Here are the odds for Tom Brady’s chance to clinch a spot in the postseason once again.
Panthers vs. Buccaneers Odds, Spread and Total
Tampa Bay and Carolina Betting Trends
- Tampa Bay is 3-11-1 ATS this season
- Carolina is 8-7 ATS this season
- The Under is 11-4 in Tampa Bay’s games
- Carolina is 1-5 in road games
- Carolina is 4-0 ATS in last four vs. NFC South
- Tampa Bay is 0-5-1 vs. a team with a losing record
Panthers vs. Buccaneers Prediction and Pick
I have no idea what happened when the Panthers played Pittsburgh two weeks ago. They couldn’t run the ball all game, but they’ve established their identity as a physical run-first team since Sam Darnold has taken over. They ran for 320 yards on Detroit last week and against Seattle in Week 14, they went for 223 yards on the ground.
Tampa Bay has been thought of as a great team against the run, because that’s what they were the past two years. Vita Vea eating up blockers and Lavonte David and Devin White flying around, making tackles in the backfield, but that’s not the case anymore.
This year, they’re No. 17 in rush yards allowed and they give up 4.5 yards per carry. The last time these teams met, Carolian won 21-3. That was with PJ Walker at QB, but they used the same formula they’re using to win games now. D’Onta Foreman ran for 118 yards on 15 carries and Chubba Hubbard finished with 63 yards on nine attempts. Both guys were over seven yards per carry and I think it’ll be the same story this time around.
Tampa Bay has been a trap all season. It’s so hard to look a Tom Brady led team in the eye and fade them, especially against Sam Darnold, or the other bad teams in the NFC, and yet Tom keeps losing games, or letting Trace McSorley hang around. So to the question, "Are we really backing Sam Darnold over Tom Brady?" Hell yeah we are! Give me the Panthers!
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change