Panthers vs. Buccaneers Odds, Betting Lines, Picks & Preview for NFL Week 18 on FanDuel Sportsbook

The Carolina Panthers will head to Raymond James Stadium to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Carolina has ‘just’ two names on the reserve/COVID list to start the week in Yetur Gross-Matos and Phil Hoskins. Tampa Bay currently has zero players on the list. Carolina has some notable names on the injury report to start the week in Robby Anderson, Stephon Gilmore, Sean Chandler, and Shi Smith, all of who received the DNP tag. C.J. Henderson was listed as limited.

The Buccaneers also have some notable names on the injury report, with Shaq Barrett, Antonio Brown, Jason Pierre-Paul, Ronald Jones, and Ryan Jensen all listed as DNP on Wednesday. Mike Evans, Richard Sherman, and Jaelon Darden were all limited. 

The Carolina Panthers’ bid to make the postseason failed due to the lack of an answer at the quarterback position. Sam Darnold struggled for most of the season when healthy, and while the return of Cam Newton brought hope to what was then a 5-5 team, he too was not the answer under center. Carolina now sits at 5-11 and fired one of the brightest offensive minds in the league mid-season in offensive coordinator Joe Brady. Carolina could take off if they find a real answer at quarterback but will likely need to look at the trade market or free agency if they still have aspirations of being a contender as soon as next season. 

Tampa Bay is dealing with some injury turmoil and will need to get healthy if they hope to repeat as NFL champions. The Antonio Brown saga looks like it will drag on, even though he was officially released on Thursday. Whether a possible lawsuit against the team ends up distracting the Bucs remains to be seen. Add a missing Chris Godwin for the rest of the season, and there is a severe strain on what was arguably the best wide receiver room in the NFL. The Buccaneers defense is dealing with massive injuries to the defensive front and secondary and hopes to get some healthy bodies back in time for the postseason. Tampa had injury luck in 2020 but has seen the reverse in 2021. 

The spread for this contest sits at -8 on the Buccaneers. The line would likely be much larger if not for the litany of injuries the Buccaneers are dealing with. Tampa Bay beat Carolina by 26 points just two weeks ago, and that was in Carolina. If they play the starters, as Bruce Arians said he would, the -8 spread is an easy tap. However, if they decide to rest multiple vital players, buying a point to move the spread to -7 is recommended. The Buccaneers, even down multiple Pro Bowlers on both sides of the ball, should be able to cover the spread, but if they decide to rest players like Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, and Mike Evans, they may struggle to score enough points to win by more than a touchdown. Tap the Bucs if they play their healthy starters.

The total for this contest sits at 41.5. The 32-6 score from two weeks ago suggests that an under play may be the sharp move, as does the total dropping from 42.5 to 41.5. The under is 5-1 in the Panthers’ past six games against the NFC South and is 5-0 in the Buccaneers’ previous five games against the NFC. Tap the low total play for this Week 18 contest. 

All NFL game predictions and picks are courtesy of SportsGrid.

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