Carolina @ Tampa Bay preview

Carolina at Tampa Bay

Last Meeting ( Sep 12, 2019 ) Tampa Bay 20, Carolina 14

An NFC South rivalry hops across the pond when the Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers square off Sunday in London. It’s the Panthers’ first appearance in England, while the Buccaneers are playing there for the third time but first since 2011.

The Bucs are trying to sweep the season series and claim the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Panthers after winning 20-14 at Carolina in Week 2. Tampa Bay’s outstanding run defense shut down the Panthers’ usually potent ground game in the first meeting, holding Carolina to a season-low 39 yards rushing. The Panthers’ secondary slowed down the Bucs’ passing attack last time, but Carolina settled for four field goals and a safety as it failed to find the end zone. Quarterback Kyle Allen is settling into the Panthers’ offense, which registered a season-high 445 total yards in last week’s 34-27 win over Jacksonville.

TV: 9:30 a.m. ET, NFL Network. LINE: Panthers -2.5. O/U: 47.5

ABOUT THE PANTHERS (3-2): Allen has been steady since stepping in for injured starter Cam Newton, passing for 674 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions, but the ground game did the heavy lifting last week with 285 yards. Christian McCaffrey leads the league in rushing (587 yards) and yards from scrimmage (866), but he recorded a season-low 53 scrimmage yards in the first meeting with the Bucs. After holding their first four opponents under 200 passing yards, the Panthers gave up 358 against the Jaguars.

ABOUT THE BUCCANEERS (2-3): The Bucs have been somewhat enigmatic, posting impressive road wins over Carolina and the Los Angeles Rams while losing at home to the New York Giants and falling 31-24 at New Orleans last week. Jameis Winston also has been inconsistent but has fared well against the Panthers, averaging 274.7 passing yards over the last three meetings with four touchdowns and no interceptions. Tampa Bay’s defense allows an NFL-low 3.1 yards per carry, but the secondary has been torched for more than 310 yards in four straight games.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Allen is the first player in the Super Bowl era to win his first four starts and not throw an interception over that stretch.

2. Tampa Bay WR Chris Godwin, who leads the NFL with six touchdown catches, had eight receptions for 121 yards and a score in the first meeting.

3. McCaffrey needs 134 yards from scrimmage to join Jim Brown (1963) and Marshall Faulk (2007) as the only players in NFL history with more than 1,000 in the first six games of a season.

PREDICTION: Panthers 26, Buccaneers 23