Both the Carolina Panthers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are coming into Week 2 after losing their season opener. The Panthers offense looked much-improved in their 34-30 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders and are hoping to replicate that performance in this matchup against the Bucs. Meanwhile, the Bucs are one of the most hyped teams in the league but many people are now skeptical of how good this team really is after their loss in Week 1.

NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis

The over is 5-0 in the Panthers last five games when matched up against an NFC opponent and 6-1 in their last seven games overall. If that didn’t make the over enticing, the over is also 8-0 in their last eight games after getting more than 350 total yards in the game prior. Carolina is just 1-4 against the spread (ATS) in its last five games when coming in as the road underdog. But the Cats are 6-1 ATS in their last seven matchups against the Buccaneers.

Meanwhile, the over is 7-0 in the Buccaneers last seven games following an ATS loss and 4-0 in their last four games when they are coming in as the home favorite. They are 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games in Week 2.

Carolina Panthers

Although the Panthers weren’t able to get the result that they wanted on their season opener, they still have a lot of things to be happy about. Their new quarterback Teddy Bridgewater looked very good, throwing for 270 yards and a touchdown – including a 75-yard touchdown to new addition Robby Anderson – with no interceptions.

Outside of him, star running back Christian McCaffrey was able to run for 96 yards and two touchdowns to help this offence put up 30 points. Unfortunately, their defence wasn’t able to stop the Raiders run game at all, coughing up 133 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns.

This week they have to be able to stop their run game and force Tom Brady to throw the ball downfield to beat them. They will need their entire defence to step up and improve if they want a chance to win this week because they can’t rely on this offence to put up 30 points a game.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Buccaneers fell victim to their own hype and came up short in their Week 1 matchup against the New Orleans Saints. The entire team had made costly mistakes throughout the game and it proved to be too many to come back from. Brady threw two interceptions in the contest – one being returned for a touchdown – and he only finished with 239 passing yards. He may need some more time to get comfortable in this new scheme. They also tried getting the running game going early on but that didn’t work either. Their two running backs totaled 71 yards on 22 attempts with the longest run being 16 yards. That number will also have to improve quite a bit to relieve some pressure off of an aging Brady.

The Bucs had a ton of penalties (nine for 109 yards) and mental errors outside of the interceptions – including a muffed kickoff in the second half that the Saints ended up recovering and capitalizing on. That cannot happen if they hope to be a serious contender in the NFC.

NFL Prediction: Who Will Win Panthers vs. Buccaneers?