The second week of the NFL season begins with a divisional clash in the NFC South on Thursday night when the Carolina Panthers play host to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a match that both teams will be wanting to win after defeats in their first outing of the campaign.
The Carolina Panthers could not get the better of the Los Angeles Rams in their first match while the San Francisco 49ers were too good for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This is the first all-NFC South match of the season so the win will be vital.
Carolina Panthers
The Panthers struggled to get their offense going last week against the Los Angeles Rams, with Christian McCaffrey the only one who really got anything going. Cam Newton was contained and was not able to use his legs, or not given the plays to, and he didn’t really find anything in terms of a passing game, so there will need to be a huge improvement in their offense if they are going to get the goods here.
The Panthers defence wasn’t too bad by and large. Todd Gurley was contained for much of the match but even then they will know there is improvements in them in that department. Gerald McCoy will be a key man this week especially as he will have plenty of attention on him given that he’s up against the side who cut him at the end of last season.
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers
I would argue the defeat for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was more of a concern last week. By and large their defence did the job, and certainly did a better job than many expected it to do heading into the campaign, but still they could not get the job done and that was down to quarterback Jameis Winston having a game to forget. He’s already under pressure as a result of that so it will be interesting to see what he delivers here.
The Panthers defence is pretty good against the pass however so Winston is not going to have it easy but in Mike Evans he does at least have a receiver who can challenge the best defences in the league. If the Bucs defence can keep Newton contained and Winston can have a clean game then they might have a chance of ending their 0-5 slump on Thursday night games.
Betting
Both these sides have a few question marks to answer going into this match, especially in offensive plays and positions so there isn’t a huge amount I fancy in the game. The start Tampa Bay Buccaneers are getting looks a little on the high side but as regular readers will know I’m no fan of taking a road team on a Thursday night, especially this early in the season.
I think it is fair to say that both defences had the better of their performances in week one of the season and that could well be a trend we see continue here, especially in terms of the Panthers. The Bucs will have to find a way to stop McCaffrey but the more plays he gets the more the clock will wind down so this one looks to be pointing towards the under, especially on the line as high as 50.5pts.
Tips
WON – Back Under 50.5pts for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with William Hill
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