NFL Week 2 Thursday Night Betting Preview

NFC South rivals coming off tough opening-week losses square off on Thursday Night Football this week when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers visit the Carolina Panthers.

At Bovada Sportsbook, the oddsmakers have listed the Panthers as a 6.5-point favorite.

Carolina came up short against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 1, falling 30-27 as a 1.5-point home underdog. Cam Newton had a pair of turnovers with an interception and a lost fumble while passing for 239 yards with no touchdowns. Christian McCaffrey carried the offense with 128 rushing yards and two touchdowns and 10 receptions for 81 yards.

With the loss, Carolina dropped to 1-8 straight up and improved to 2-7 against the spread in its last nine. At home the Panthers are on a four-game losing streak at 1-3 ATS, however as a home favorite they’re 7-1 SU and 5-3 ATS in their last eight.

Sloppy play sunk Buccaneers in Week 1 loss

The Buccaneers rode a trail of mistakes and miscues to a 31-17 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 1. Jameis Winston passed for 194 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions, which included a pair of pick-sixes.

Tampa Bay has now dropped seven straight on the road while going 2-3-2 ATS. In their last 18 road games, the Buccaneers are a pathetic 2-16 SU and 6-9-3 ATS. The Bucs have also been a strong UNDER play for totals bettors at 6-1 UNDER in their last seven.

The Panthers and Buccaneers split the season series a year ago with a win apiece both SU and ATS. The home team won and covered both games. Carolina has dominated this matchup for a number of years with a 9-3 record SU and 8-4 mark ATS in the last 12 vs the Buccaneers. At home to Tampa Bay, Carolina is 5-1 SU and 3-3 ATS in the last six.

Carolina, Tampa Bay have gone UNDER in 5 of last 6

A few trends bettors may want to pay attention to: in the last 10 matchups between the Panthers and Buccaneers, the visiting team is 7-3 ATS. Also, the Buccaneers are 5-14 ATS in their last 19 night games.

For totals bettors, the UNDER is 5-1 in the last six matchups between Carolina and Tampa Bay, and the Panthers are 4-1 UNDER in their last five home games against divisional opponents.