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The Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will play in Week 18 to close out the season on Sunday. It's time to continue our NFL odds series with a Panthers-Buccaneers prediction and pick.
This is a game that will not matter for the Carolina Panthers, but for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it's still important. With a win and a Los Angeles Rams loss, the Buccaneers can clinch the second seed in the NFC playoffs. If the Rams do win, then the Bucs will remain the 3-seed.
For more insight on the Panthers-Buccaneers matchup in Week 18, listen below:
As it stands now, the Bucs will likely play the Philadelphia Eagles or San Francisco 49ers in the first round of the playoffs. There is still a slight chance they will face the New Orleans Saints if the Saints get help getting in. That would be the last thing the Bucs want on this planet as the Saints have the Buccaneers' number this year. This should still turn out to be a good matchup to watch in Week 18.
Here are the Panthers-Buccaneers odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
NFL Odds: Panthers-Buccaneers Odds
Carolina Panthers: +8 (-108)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: -8 (-112)
Over: 41.5 (-110)
Under: 41.5 (-110)
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Why The Panthers Could Cover The Spread
This won't be an easy game for the Panthers to cover. Since Week 4 of the season, the Panthers are 2-11 which is the second-worst in the NFL. It's been a horrible stretch of games for Carolina and their biggest cause for concern is the quarterback position. They couldn't figure it out even after the signing and reunion of Cam Newton. When Christian McCaffery went down with the injury, that just about sealed the deal for the Panthers this season.
For the game against Tanpa Bay, they will need to rely on their defense to keep them in the game. Tom Brady is still very tough to contain but does have 12 interceptions on the season. With the Panthers' elite secondary, that could be the biggest matchup to watch in this game. The offense will need to limit the turnovers and control the time of possession. If they can keep Brady off the field, then that is a great sign.
Why The Buccaneers Could Cover The Spread
Tampa Bay is likely going to cover this spread. They will be trying their all to earn the 2-seed because that could benefit them in the playoffs. The Buccaneers are very good at home and they want that advantage, so expect them to try and beat the Panthers and not settle for the 3 seed. Brady will be without Chris Godwin and now Antonio Brown. With the distractions aside, AB not being there will hurt the offense. He's just too talented not to be a factor. Brady will focus on Mike Evans and buddy Rob Gronkowski to get the job done against the Panthers. They will likely utilize Ronald Jones as the running back.
Tampa Bay will just need to score points because their defense will be just fine. There is no way Carolina scores more than two touchdowns in this game with how bad they are playing. With that being said, the Buccaneers should be fine scoring around 24-31 points and win. For covering the spread, well that will be on the defense to force turnovers and keep the Panthers to below 20 points. Tampa Bay averages 29.4 points per game and allows 21. If that happens, they will cover.
Final Panthers-Buccaneers Prediction & Pick
I'm going to take the Buccaneers to cover this spread and win pretty easily. At this point, I wouldn't expect the Panthers to be playing well after this miserable season. A loss will likely give them a better draft pick anyway but I'm not saying they will tank this game. I just don't expect them to compete with the Buccaneers who are trying to earn a better seed. The over/under does seem low for this type of game, so I would consider the over in this game.
Final Panthers-Buccaneers Prediction & Pick: Buccaneers -8 (-112) & over: 41.5 (-110)
