Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers Matchup Preview 9/12/19: Analysis, Depth Charts, Betting Picks, Daily Fantasy

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Both NFC South teams took a loss in Week 1, but it was Tampa Bay who had the easier matchup. They will go on the road and face Carolina, who is back at home again for Week 2. The Buccaneers failed to get any sort of offense going against San Francisco, while it took till the second half for Carolina’s to get going. Both will look to bounce back this week on Thursday Night Football. The Panthers are favored by a touchdown, and the Buccaneers were one of the poorer road teams in the league  last season. It will be a tasty matchup for the Panthers offense, as the Bucs defense already allowed 30+ points, and were projected to be bad at the beginning of the year.  For odds line movement, and full matchup history, see the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers Matchup Page.

TV Schedule

Date: Thursday, September 12th, 2019
Time: 8:20 ET
Location: Bank Of America Stadium – Charlotte, NC
Coverage: NFL

Injury Report

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: None
Carolina Panthers: Greg Little (Q), Greg Olsen (Q)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Analysis

It was a lackluster performance for the Buccaneers as a whole on Sunday, and they will have a tougher matchup against Carolina. Jameis Winston already started off the season failing to protect the ball, with three interceptions. He also had just 5.4 yards per attempt and was sacked three times. It was a fairly spread out offense, as Chris Godwin led the way with just six targets. OJ Howard, Breshad Perriman, and Mike Evans all sat with five targets a piece. It was Godwin who had the lone passing touchdown. Overall the Buccaneers will need to get going with the pass, as the defense will likely continue to give up large amounts of points. On the defensive side they limited the 49ers offense a bit, but it was tough sledding with how the offense but them in bad spots. They allowed George Kittle to get going a bit, which was an issue for them last season.

Ronald Jones emerged in Week 1, which was somewhat of a surprise. He struggled to do anything on the field last season, and it was an up and down camp heading into this year. He looked fresh, rushing for 75 yards on 13 carries. Jones also caught his lone target for 18 yards. Peyton barber had an eight carry day for 33 yards, and caught two of his four passes. We should see a fairly split workload between the two moving forward.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Depth Chart

QB: Jameis Winston
RB1: Peyton Barber
RB2: Ronald Jones
WR1: Mike Evans
WR2: Chris Godwin
WR3: Breshad Perriman
TE: O.J. Howard

Carolina Panthers Analysis

24 of the 27 points scored by Carolina this past week came in the second half. Cam Newton had a pedestrian game both throwing the ball and on the ground. He finished with -2 rushing yards, and 239 passing yards. With no touchdowns and one interception, it was Christian McCaffrey who stole the show. He picked up 128 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground. McCaffrey was the offense, also tallying 10 catches for 71 yards on 11 targets. The offense had to run through McCaffrey to move the ball. Targets went to the guys we expected them to. DJ Moore had ten targets, catching seven of them for 76 yards. Greg Olsen had nine targets, but wasn’t productive with four catches for 36 yards. The hype was there for Curtis Samuel, but he had nearly a team low in targets, with four targets.

It is a great spot for the offense this week, as Tampa’s defense has glaring weaknesses against the pass and run. Expect a heavy dose of Christian McCaffrey again, and the wide receivers have a good matchup against the Tampa secondary. The one bit of injury news to watch out for is Greg Olsen. Ian Thomas would slide in as a starter, but there isn’t a guarantee for massive targets.

Carolina Panthers Depth Chart

QB: Cam Newton
RB1: Christian McCaffrey
RB2: Reggie Bonnafon
WR1: D.J. Moore
WR2: Curtis Samuel
WR3: Jarius Wright
TE: Greg Olsen

Betting Pick: Carolina -6.5

Carolina opens up as -6.5 favorites, which isn’t all that surprising after the Buccaneers lost at home by two scores against San Francisco. Carolina took a bit to get going, but back at home against this defense, I would expect Carolina to handle business at home, but the over is intriguing in this spot. Carolina’s defense isn’t the worst in the league, but they certainly aren’t scaring anyone away. The Panthers covered the spread 65% of the time when at home last year, but were unreliable as a favorite.

Daily Fantasy: Christian McCaffrey & Log Out

Coming off a monster week, this has really been nothing new for McCaffrey dating back to last season. Tampa Bay ranked 32nd against the run last season, and 16th against receiving backs. Tampa Bay was also ranked 29th against both WR1s and WR2s. DJ Moore and Curtis Samuel are going to be viable options, and should pick up more slack if Olsen is out. Ian Thomas would be a value flyer to consider, as Tampa ranked 28th against tight ends. Cam Newton is going to be strictly a GPP play most weeks, and you can certainly fire him up against Tampa. Chris Godwin is someone I have a lot of interest in again. Carolina ranked 32nd against WR2s, and also 24th against tight ends. OJ Howard is in play, but not a must on this slate. The Tampa Bay running backs are not optimal targets this week.