Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Carolina Panthers 2019: Prediction, Odds For Week 2 Thursday Night Football

The Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are both looking for their first victory of the 2019 NFL season after suffering disappointing losses in their home openers. One of those NFC South teams will have to wait at least one more week before getting into the win column.

Carolina is a 6.5-point home favorite against Tampa Bay on “Thursday Night Football,” according to the latest betting line at OddsShark. The game total is 50.5.

The Panthers and Buccaneers are both 0-1, but all losses aren’t created equal. Carolina showed more encouraging signs in Week 1, making the Panthers the right bet in Week 2.

The Los Angeles Rams won in Carolina 30-27 Sunday afternoon. L.A. might be the best team in the NFC, having reached the Super Bowl last season. The Panthers and Rams finished with almost the exact same total yardage. The difference in the game was two costly fumbles by Carolina.

The Bucs lost at home to the San Francisco 49ers 31-17. San Francisco is the third-best team in the NFC West and an unlikely playoff team, yet they still defeated Tampa Bay on the road by two touchdowns.

For the Bucs, they were plagued by similar problems that have kept them in the basement of the NFC South for most of the last decade. Jameis Winston burned Tampa Bay with three interceptions. It could have been even more turnovers if San Francisco didn’t drop a few relatively catchable passes.

Winston has thrown at least two interceptions in six of his last 13 games. He has a 6-17 record in his last 23 starts. The quarterback had an 85.1 passer rating on the road last year with more interceptions than touchdown passes.

Jared Goff didn’t exactly light up Carolina’s defense in Week 1. The Rams’ quarterback completed 23 of 39 passes for 186 yards, one touchdown and an interception.

Winston threw three interceptions against a 49ers’ defense that had two picks all of last season. He could be in for a long night against the Panthers’ defense on the road.

Even Bruce Arians might not be able to turn the former No.1 pick into an above-average starter.

Tampa Bay’s defense played relatively well against Jimmy Garoppolo and San Francisco. Don’t expect them to have the same kind of success against Cam Newton, Christian McCaffrey and Co.

The Panthers are 5-1 against the Buccaneers in their last six games at home. Carolina is 8-4 against the spread in their last 12 games when hosting Tampa Bay, according to OddsShark.

Carolina was projected to be a playoff contender before Week 1. Tampa Bay was largely viewed as the worst team in the division. Those expectations should remain the same heading into Week 2.

Prediction Against The Spread: Carolina over Tampa Bay, 31-21