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Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Carolina Panthers Football Picks & Odds

Written October 8, 2008 by Jason Lowry

This weekend the 4-1 Carolina Panthers will head to the road for the 2nd time this season when they take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in what should be a great NFC South showdown. As it stands now the Panthers are on top, but that could change quickly, as both the Bucs and the Atlanta Falcons sit just a game behind at 3-2. Last week the Panthers made easy work of the Kansas City Chiefs beating up on the youngsters 34-0. The Bucs week didn’t go so well as they had to travel to Denver to take on the Broncos, where they struggled to get anything going on offense and wound up losing 16-13. With these teams so evenly matched its likely the oddsmakers are rolling with the home team in this one, as Tampa Bay comes in as 1.5 point favorites over Carolina at BetUS.com

The Panthers offensive numbers have really taken a boost after facing both the Falcons and Chiefs in back to back weeks, as they combined to outscore them 58-9. Though the Panthers have really enjoyed the success of Jake Delhomme in his return from injury back to starting quarterback, the real story of this offense has been the play of running backs DeAngelo Williams and rookie Jonathan Stewart. Last week Williams went off running for 123 yards and 2 scores, but Stewart wasn’t bad either running it 19 times for 72 yards. Steve Smith and Muhsin Muhammad continue to be the go to guys in the passing game, and with the Buccaneers defense against the run, it could be up to these guys to make the plays this weekend.

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Though the Panthers defense put a shutout on the board last week, it really isn’t as impressive as it might seem, as the Chiefs offense isn’t much to speak of. Against much tougher competition the Panthers defense has been a little more suspect against the pass this season giving up over 200 yards a game through the air. The thing we think the Panthers need to focus the most on is shutting down the Bucs running game, and if holding Larry Johnson to just 2 yards is any indication of how good this defense can be, it will likely only get better as the season rolls on. Bet Carolina +1.5 at BetUS.com

After rolling off 3 straight wins scoring 27 points a game, many expected the Bucs to head to Denver and rip apart a defense that let the same Kansas City Chiefs who were shutout last week score 33 points, but that wasn’t the case at all as he Bucs were able to put up one late touchdown. It is still up in the air whether Brian Griese will be able to combeback this week after the hit he suffered on the elbow from Champ Bailey, and if he can’t Jeff Garcia will be back in the starting roll. The only real question we have with this team is why didn’t they run the football more? After the Chiefs Larry Johnson put up 198 yards, the Bucs ran it just 21 times, and it wasn’t like they weren’t having success, as Warrick Dunn had over 7 yards per carry, and Earnest Graham was at nearly 6 yards a carry. Look for the Bucs to really try an establish the run this weekend, with question surrounding their quarterback.

Where Tampa is at its best, is on the defensive side of things, as they are giving up the least amount of yards a game this season at 198 yards a game. Where this unit is at its best is against the run, as they are giving up just 53.8 yards a game this season on the ground. With the way the Panthers can not only run but throw the football, this defense will have to be ready to go, as they might not be able to afford to give up much points this weekend. Bet Tampa Bay -1.5 at BetUS.com

For some of the best NFL and NCAA picks this weekend, take some time and check out who professional handicapper Jason Lowry has his money on this weekend in his great football packages.

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