Panthers vs. Bucs: Game picks, best bets for Week 17 NFL season

The Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will meet in a huge matchup between NFC South opponents on Sunday afternoon. Tampa Bay holds a one-game lead over Carolina and the New Orleans Saints for the top spot in the division with two weeks to go. The game will get started at 8:20 p.m. ET and air on NBC. Here, we’ll take a look at our picks for best bets for the Panthers-Bucs in Week 17 of the NFL season.

All odds come courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.

Panthers vs. Bucs odds

Spread: Bucs -4
Point total: 40
Moneyline: Bucs -195, Panthers +165

Our picks, best bets

Pick against the spread: Panthers +4

The Buccaneers will win because this is a huge game and Tom Brady wins games. That might be a bit of an over-simplified reasoning, but Tampa Bay isn’t winning this game by more than a field goal. The Panthers have continued to play hard the entire season even with their head coach and top offensive talent being removed from the team early on, and they’ll be fired up for Sunday’s matchup.

Over/under: Under 40

The best two units on the field come on the defensive side of the ball for both teams in terms of yards per play, and they’ll make points hard to come by. Sam Darnold has been a serviceable quarterback, and the chances of Brady lighting up the Panthers defense feel low.

Player prop: Tom Brady Under 282.5 passing yards (-115)

Brady surpassed this number once in his last seven games, and the Panthers rank 11th in yards per pass attempt (6.5). The Panthers run the ball on 49% of snaps, which is the fifth highest rate in the league. That will help keep the clock moving and limit the possessions, which will limit Brady’s passing yards.