Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Carolina Panthers Line

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-10) will be trying to avoid a ninth straight loss when they visit the Carolina Panthers (5-9) Saturday.

The Buccaneers are currently listed as a 7.5-point underdog with the total set at 48.

Tampa Bay is coming off a 31-15 defeat to the Dallas Cowboys.

Josh Freeman connected on 17 of 27 pass attempts for 148 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions in the loss. He also led the team in rushing with 37 yards on four carries.

Kregg Lumpkin led the Bucs with five receptions and 50 receiving yards.

Dezmon Briscoe, who finished with three catches for 36 yards, hauled in Freeman’s touchdown pass.

Sunday’s 28-13 victory over the Houston Texans was the Panthers’ third win in four weeks.

Cam Newton completed 13 of 23 throws for 149 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Five passes, including one of the touchdown tosses, found the hands of Steve Smith, who led the team with 82 receiving yards.

Jeremy Shockey caught Newton’s other touchdown strike.

DeAngelo Williams led the way on the ground with 61 of the team’s 166 rushing yards and a score.

The Panthers could be poised for another big day on the ground this week. The Buccaneers enter Week 16 ranked 30th in the NFL against the run with 141.1 yards allowed per game and have given up an average of 161.1 during their losing streak.

The Bucs gave up 160 rushing yards to the Cowboys last Saturday.

The Panthers currently rank fifth in the league with 141.0 rushing yards per game and have averaged 171.8 while winning three of their last four.

Williams, Newton and Jonathan Stewart have combined for 1,920 yards and 21 touchdowns on the ground this season

The Panthers have won four of the last six in this series with the most recent being a 38-19 victory in Tampa Bay on Dec. 4.  That win was keyed by a 163-yard rushing performance.

The Buccaneers have covered the number just once in their last eight games, but we find them in a favorable situation Saturday. They are 7-1 against the number in their last eight road games when listed as an underdog of 3.5 to 10.0 points.

The Panthers are 4-2 against the spread when laying points this season, and the favorite is 7-1 against the spread in the last eight matchups in this series.

As far as the total is concerned, the under has been the play. These two have finished under the number in six of their last seven in Carolina.

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