Jacksonville struggled against Indianapolis on a short week last week. The only good thing about playing last Thursday is that is gives them an extra few days to prepare for the best team in the league – Houston.
]Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-4) vs Carolina Panthers (2-7)
Sunday November 18
Bank of America Stadium – Charlotte, NC
1:00PM
Moneyline: Off From GTBets.eu
Spread: Pick em
O/U: 48.5
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Tampa
The Buccaneers won again last week. That makes three in a row and 4 of their last 5. Due to this roll they enter Carolina as the slight favourite. To illustrate how things have changed throughout the course of the season Tampa was a 3 point dog to Carolina in the opener at home. Both of these teams were expected to improve this year but it has been Tampa that has taken the greater step forward.
Tampa may have won the last three, all by double digit margins, but this team is certainly no powerhouse. The game against San Diego could have gone either way until the Bucs opportunistic defense had a pick 6 to salt it away. This team is 3rd in the league in scoring despite being just above average in yards gained. They are also 30th in yards allowed but yet a respectable 18th in points against. At some point you would expect that something has got to give.
Tampa is 7-2 ATS this season including a perfect 4-0 as the visitors. This team is still a tough one to get a read on but there is enough talent to continue their winning ways against a team like Carolina that is already beginning to think about next season. It is hard not to like the Bucs in a situation where all they have to do is win the game.[soliloquy id=”82219″]
Carolina
Carolina got dumped last week by Denver unable to maintain any of the momentum from their win the week before against Washington. Its another lost season in Charlotte and it appears many are beginning to tire of the look at me antics of franchise face Cam Newton. This team has been dismal at home with 1-4 SU and ATS records. It is hard to find any real reason to get behind them this season after they were solid moneymakers last year.
If Cam is losing the team that is one thing but the other that is plainly clear is that the Panthers can’t afford to lose him. Newton is the top passer and rusher on a team struggling for point production. They prefer to move the ball on the ground but the Bucs are among league leaders in slowing down ground attacks so it may be on Newton to find a way to move the ball through the air. He will definitely have to be sharp to avoid the turnovers that killed San Diego last week.
Tampa seems to be able to frustrate teams while Carolina seems easily frustrated – that does not make for a great outcome for the Panthers. Another thing going against Carolina is that in each of the last three season one team has swept the other – Tampa took the first one this season. In fact they seem to be alternating that trend and it is Tampa’s turn to take two.
Spread Pick: Tampa Bay -1
O/U Pick: Under
Score Prediction: Tampa Bay 23 – Carolina 17
Things are pretty bad in Jetsland right now. At 3-6 they are pretty much out of the race for the playoffs this year and the way they are playing invites more questions than answers.
The Cincinnati Bengals bounced back with a big win over the New York Giants last week. Cincinnati still has a long ways to go to get back in the playoff picture, and they absolutely need to win this game.
After 6 of the worst quarters of football San Diego jumped out of their funk in beating the Kansas City Chiefs last week. Now they are off to Tampa for the first of two on the road and a three game stint against teams with .500 records or better.
The Dnever Broncos are looking to use this week to build some breathing space in the AFC West. At 5-3 they are well positioned as the rest of their schedule is pretty soft except for a visit to Baltimore.
The Falcons are the last unbeaten team in the league and now that we are entering the second half of the season it is reasonable to start assessing their chances of completing the trick.
I think it is fair to say that little has gone according to plan for Buffalo this year. Still they enter this road division tilt with a chance to narrow the gap between them and New England to just a single game.
The Detroit Lions are hanging by a thread right now. They are already 3 games behind the Bears in the division and have lost their only two division games to this point as well.
Carolina nearly pulled off a great victory against Chicago last weekend,,,choking it away in the second half. Still it was another step in the right direction. The Panthers have lost 5 in a row but the last 4 have been by a combined 12 points.
After a mediocre start the Packers (5-3) are looking like the Packers on the last few seasons and they have won 3 straight, but still trail the 6-1 Bears in the NFC North.
Nobody is really talking about the Bears (6-1) as being legit Super Bowl contenders, but their defense has been solid and they have won 5 straight. The Titans (3-5) are coming off a tough loss and if they lose this game they may be out of the playoff picture already.
The Ravens (5-2) are coming off their worst loss in 5 years, but they have had the Browns’ number in the last few seasons. However, the Browns (2-6) have won 2 of their last 2 games and in their last couple of games they have really stepped up on defense.
The Dolphins (3-3) and Jets (3-4) have some bad blood between them after their week 3 game where All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis was lost for the season with a knee injury and Reggie Bush was taken off the field after a vicious hit.
The Denver Broncos put on a clinic last week at home against the New Orleans Saints. The Cincinnati Bengals had a bye week after getting beaten by the Steelers at home two weeks ago.
The Chiefs lost their 4th in a row last Sunday and things don’t get much easier with back to back road games against San Diego and Pittsburgh.
