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Buccaneers vs Panthers NFL Week 9 Odds & Prediction

Written by on October 30, 2018

NFL News and Rumors
Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers will look to handle their business when they host the division rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers in their Week 9 NFC South divisional battle on Sunday. The Buccaneers are making a big change prior to this contest in the hopes that it will improve the outlook for their franchise for the remainder of the regular season. The Panthers are looking to stay close to division-leading New Orleans in the hopes they can win the NFC South division title.

With these teams heading in polar opposite directions, let’s find out if the Panthers can cover the chalk as a touchdown home favorite when this affair goes down live from Bank of America Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Buccaneers vs Panthers NFL Week 9 Odds & Prediction

Weather Forecast

  • Clear: 16°C/61°F
  • Humidity: 45%
  • Precipitation: 0%
  • Wind: 6 mph E
  • Cloud Cover: 18%
  • Type of Stadium: Open

Why Bet On The Tampa Bay Buccaneers?

Why should you bet on the Buccaneers to get the big road upset? There aren’t many good reasons outside of the fact that the Bucs could get another ‘magical’ performance from streaky veteran journeyman Ryan Fitzpatrick after head coach Dirk Koetter announced on Monday that he was going back to Fitzpatrick as his starter following a dreadful performance from quarterback Jameis Winston this past weekend.

The Bus lost to the Cincinnati Bengals 37-34 but managed to cover the spread as 3.5-point road dogs despite the fact that Jameis Winston was completely awful in completing just 18 of 35 passes for 276 yards with one touchdown and four costly interceptions. Fitzpatrick came on in relief and went 11 of 15 for 194 yards with two touchdowns and no picks.

Defensively, the Bucs gave up two TD passes to Cincinnati’s Andy Dalton and two rushing scores to running back Joe Mixon. Still, the big news surrounding the Bucs right now is the benching of Winston, the top pick in the 2015 NFL Draft.

“Once I stop turning the ball over, we’ll be rolling,” Winston said afterward. For his part, Fitzpatrick said, “It doesn’t take a lot to get this thing going,” he said.

Team Statistics

Offense:
  • Average Score For: 28.71
  • Total Yards: 467.86
  • Pass Yards: 376.29
  • Rush Yards: 91.57
Defense:
  • Average Score Against: 33.29
  • Total Yards: 415.15
  • Pass Yards: 318.29
  • Rush Yards: 96.86

Why Bet On The Carolina Panthers?

Are the Panthers a safe bet for NFL Week 9? Why should you bet on the Panthers to get the win and ATS cover? There are a bunch of great reasons, starting with the fact that Carolina has won two straight and eight of the last 10 meetings against Tampa Bay. In addition to mostly dominating Tampa Bay, the Panthers are also playing very well right now, having won two straight and four of their last five games overall.

Carolina beat the hell out of Baltimore in its 36-21 Week 9 win on Sunday as Cam Newton tossed two TD passes and rushed for another against the league’s top-rated defense. While Newton completed an efficient 21 of 29 passes for 219 yards, second-year running back Christian McCaffrey added one rushing and one receiving score in the convincing win.

“We present a lot of issues for defenses and that is what this offense was kind of built for,” Newton said. “We have dynamic players all around the field.”

Carolina’s defense forced Baltimore’s Joe Flacco into a poor, two-interception performance in the win.

“We got our butts kicked today,” Flacco said.

Team Statistics

Offense:
  • Average Score For: 25.43
  • Total Yards: 366.57
  • Pass Yards: 227.71
  • Rush Yards: 138.86
Defense:
  • Average Score Against: 21.71
  • Total Yards: 351
  • Pass Yards: 255.14
  • Rush Yards: 95.86

Buccaneers vs Panthers NFL Week 9 Betting Trends

 
  • Tampa Bay is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games
  • Tampa Bay is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games
  • The total has gone OVER in 7 of Tampa Bay’s last 8 games
  • Carolina is 7-2 ATS in its last 9 games at home
  • Carolina is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
  • The total has gone OVER in 4 of Carolina’s last 6 games
 

Expert Analysis and Prediction for Buccaneers vs Panthers

It’s all fine and well that Tampa Bay is making a change at quarterback, but the fact of the matter is that there’s a reason why Ryan Fitzpatrick has been a career-long journeyman and it’s because he has failed every single time he’s been given the opportunity to be some franchise’s long-term starter.

Tampa Bay is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games and 1-5-1 ATS in their last seven games after giving up at least 30 points in their previous contest. Conversely, Carolina has gone a perfect 4-0 ATS in their last four games in the month of November and a blistering 7-2 ATS in their last 9 home games. The Panthers are giving up just under 12 fewer points per game than Tampa Bay’s defense (33.3 ppg) and I like Carolina’s defense to harass Ryan Fitzpatrick while Cam Newton and Christian McCaffrey lead the way to another victory and the narrow ATS cover as well.

NFL Week 9 Pick: Panthers 31 Buccaneers 21
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