Buccaneers at Panthers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have won four of their past five games to surge back into the NFC playoff picture, and they'll try for their fourth consecutive victory when they travel to face the struggling Carolina Panthers on Sunday. Tampa Bay's unexpectedly explosive offense has put up 28 or more points in five straight games for the first time in franchise history to move into the middle of the NFC wild card race. The Bucs will try to keep it up against Carolina's middle-of-the-pack defense.
The Panthers have lost six of their last seven, including a 36-14 home loss to former coach John Fox and the Denver Broncos last week. The Buccaneers have won three of the past five meetings between the NFC South rivals, including a 16-10 win in the season opener. Bucs running back Doug Martin rushed for 95 yards in his NFL debut in that game, setting the tone for a strong rookie campaign in which he has compiled 862 rushing yards so far.
TV: 1 p.m. ET, FOX. LINE: Buccaneers -1.5, O/U 48.5
ABOUT THE BUCCANEERS (5-4): Tampa Bay has uncovered a gem in Martin, who is the only player in the NFL with over 800 rushing yards and 200 receiving yards and ranks second in the league with 1,158 yards from scrimmage. His emergence in the ground game has helped quarterback Josh Freeman and the passing attack flourish. The defense has been less reliable - the Bucs lead the NFL in rush defense but rank last against the pass - but has forced 19 turnovers for a plus-11 margin.
ABOUT THE PANTHERS (2-7): Quarterback Cam Newton's sophomore slump has been well-documented, but he's not the only thing wrong with the Panthers. In fact, Newton is Carolina's leading rusher with a meager 354 yards, as Jonathan Stewart (3.8) and DeAngelo Williams (3.5) continue to average under four yards per carry. With the run game unlikely to get on track against the Bucs' top-rated run defense, the pressure will be on Newton to produce through the air. The defense has been unimpressive too, ranking 16th in run defense, pass defense and total defense.
EXTRA POINTS
1. Freeman has recorded a rating of 100 or better in five straight games. The Bucs are 11-3 when he has a rating over 100.
2. Panthers WR Steve Smith has seven career 100-yard receiving games against Tampa Bay.
3. Tampa Bay's first four games were decided by a touchdown or less, but its past five have featured an average margin of 14.8 points.