Carolina Panthers (5-11) vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (12-4)
January 9, 2022 4:25 pm EDT
The Line: Tampa Bay Buccaneers -8 / Carolina Panthers +8; Over/Under: +43
(Get latest betting odds)
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers duke it out Sunday in a week 18 NFC South NFL division contest from Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
The Carolina Panthers come into this game looking to shake off an 18-10 loss to the New Orleans Saints last time out. Sam Darnold has thrown for 2,308 yards, 7 touchdowns and 12 interceptions on 58.8% passing, while Cam Newton has tossed for 684 yards, 4 touchdowns and 5 INTs on 54.8% passing. Chuba Hubbard leads the Panthers on the ground with 564 rushing yards and 5 scores while DJ Moore has 1,070 receiving yards with 4 TDs and a team-high 86 catches and the next closest receiver is Robby Anderson who has 46 grabs for 469 yards and 4 scores as well this season. On defense, Jeremy Chinn leads the Panthers with 107 total tackles, while Haason Reddick has a team-high 11 sacks and Brian Burns has 9 sacks of his own this season.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be out to build on a 28-24 win over the New York Jets in their last game. Tom Brady’s thrown for 4,990 yards, 40 touchdowns and 12 INTs on 66.9% passing, while Leonard Fournette has a team-high 812 rushing yards with 8 scores. Chris Godwin has 1,103 receiving yards with 5 TDs to lead the Bucs’ in receiving yardage, while Mike Evans has 946 receiving yards and 12 scores. Rob Gronkowski and the aforementioned Fournette each have 450+ receiving yards as well this season. On defense, Devin White has a team-high 124 total tackles, while Shaq Barrett has 10 sacks and Ndamukong Suh has 6 sacks. Mike Edwards also has 3 interceptions for Tampa Bay’s D this season.
Carolina is 0-6 ATS in their last 6 games overall and 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games following a loss while the under is 5-1 in their last 6 division games. Tampa Bay is 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games overall and 5-1 ATS in their last 6 home games while the under is 5-0 in their last 5 games against the NFC.
I get the allure of points with the Panthers to some, but the Buccaneers are heads and shoulders the better team here and the Panthers have just fallen off of a cliff in recent games especially ATS. I think this is a spot where the Bucs send a message to the rest of the league with the playoffs on the horizon, so I’ll lay it and play it with the Buccaneers here.
