Getty Images Carolina Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey
Two division rivals looking for their first win clash when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers visit the Carolina Panthers on Thursday Night Football.
The Buccaneers hosted the 49ers last Sunday and were leading 7-6 at halftime but their offense simply couldn’t keep up in the second half and Jameis Winston struggled with turnovers in a 31-17 loss.
Cam Newton is back to full strength for the Panthers and the team has high hopes this year but he had a tough day and they came up short in a 30-27 loss on Sunday.
These two teams split two meetings last season. The Panthers won 42-28 at home on November 4 before the Buccaneers beat them 24-17 in the most recent game on December 2.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-1) vs. Carolina Panthers (0-1)
Thursday, September 12 at 8:20 PM ET
Bank of America Stadium
Coverage: NFL Network
*All odds and betting info courtesy of OddsShark and originally posted by Heritage
- Buccaneers vs. Panthers -6.5
- Over/Under: 50
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Despite the loss, we saw a promising start from a new-look defense.
Jameis Winston completed 20 of 36 passes for 194 yards to move past Vinny Testaverde as Tampa Bay’s career passing leader and he threw a touchdown but his team could not overcome his three interceptions and eventually dropped their first game under head coach Bruce Arians, 31-17.
Ronald Jones ran for 75 yards on 13 carries, Chris Godwin caught three passes for 53 yards and one touchdown and Mike Evans caught two passes for just 28 yards but three interceptions and one fumble proved costly for the Buccaneers.
Carolina Panthers
A look at the snap counts from Week 1
Cam Newton completed 25 of 38 passes for 239 yards but he had a costly backward pass that resulted in a fumble deep in his team’s territory, which led to a Rams touchdown and he also had an interception with 5:55 to play and he was held to a career-low -2 yards on just three carries.
Newton was not able to complete a pass of longer than 17 yards but he said that it wasn’t because he was thinking about his surgically repaired shoulder during the game. Christian McCaffrey had a monster game, he ran for 128 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries and caught 10 passes for 81 receiving yards for 209 yards from scrimmage.
Trends and Prediction
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are:
- 6-13 ATS in their last 19 games in September
- 3-8 ATS in their last 11 games on grass
- 1-5-1 ATS in their last seven road games against a team with a losing home record
- 1-5 ATS in their last six games after allowing more than 30 points in their previous game
- 0-5 ATS in their last five Thursday games
I can’t back Jameis Winston, he is 6-17 in his last 23 starts and he has thrown at least two interceptions in six of his last 13 games. Winston had an 85.1 passer rating in six road games last season with 10 interceptions and nine touchdowns and he threw three interceptions against a 49ers defense that had two picks all of last season. He can have a long night on Thursday.
Pick: Panthers -6.5
READ NEXT: Washington State vs. Houston Prediction: Betting Line, Odds & Pick