Buccaneers vs Panthers Free Pick, NFL Free Picks, NFL Predictions 12/1/24
- J.A. Cavalier
- Nov 30, 2024
- 3 min read
Tampa Bay vs. Carolina (tb -6, 46.5)
NFL ODDS, NFL PREDICTIONS, NFL PREVIEWS
Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Carolina Panthers | Sunday, December 1, 2024
Our next game is an NFC South divisional clash, which sees the Carolina Panthers attempt to dent the playoff hopes of their divisional rivals, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Panthers come into this one off the back of a heartbreaking 30-27 loss against the 10-1 Chiefs, in which they fought the back-to-back Super Bowl champions all the way to the death.
Last Sunday’s game against KC saw Bryce Young have one of the best games of his young career, putting up 263 yards and a touchdown against the league’s number-four defense. After hard-fought victories over the Saints and the New York Giants, Young received plaudits for his performance in this Chiefs game, and showed flashes of why he was picked 1st overall in the 2023 draft, following a brutal year and a half in Carolina.
Despite recent improvements, this Panthers team is still one of the league’s very worst, ranking 4th last in scoring offense, and dead last in scoring defense, leading to a league-worst points differential of -146. That’s 38 worse than their nearest rivals, the Jaguars and Raiders. As a result, there have been very few success stories on the roster this year, but one of the exceptions is Chuba Hubbard.
Hubbard has been the team’s star running back this year and has managed 1,002 yards from scrimmage, good for 11th in the league. He’s 639 clear of the Panthers’ second-best performer, WR Diontae Johnson, who’s of course no longer with the team. Expect the Panthers to turn to Hubbard on the ground and through the air in this one, as they look to exploit a Bucs defense that ranks 29th in yardage per game, giving up 376 a game on average.
This Bucs defense absolutely has talent, from Lavonte David to Vita Vea to Antoine Winfield Jr., but they have still struggled this year, giving up at least 500 yards on two occasions against Atlanta and Baltimore in Weeks 5 and 7 respectively. Tampa had been sitting pretty at 4-2, but suffered a four-game losing streak going into their Week 11 bye, before getting back on track last week against the hopeless New York Giants.
The losing streak coincided with losing legendary wide receiver Mike Evans as well as Chris Godwin, taking away Baker Mayfield’s two favorite targets. But Evans was back for last week’s 30-7 win in New York, putting up 68 yards on five catches, making him Tampa’s top receiver on the day.
On the ground, Tampa have performed well this year, behind a two-pronged attack of rookie Bucky Irving and Rachaad White. The best-rushing performance of the year came in a previous divisional road game in New Orleans, in which the Bucs managed 277 yards on the ground.
As earlier mentioned, this Panthers defense is the league’s worst, giving up 30.9 points a game, and with Evans back, the Bucs will be looking to add to their woes this Sunday. Then with Atlanta facing a tough game against the Chargers, this is a perfect opportunity for the Bucs to claim a share of the division lead going into the final five games.
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J.A Cavalier Free PICK
Game total Over 46.5