Beecher's Thursday Night Football Projection
Buccaneers (0-6) vs. Panthers (3-3)- 8:25 PM at Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL
Reason: Although the Buc’s lose Doug Martin for this game rookie Mike James will take his place against the #4 rush defense in the league, so the Bucs will have to rely heavily on the arm of Rookie Mike Glennon even if Martin were making the start. Last week Glennon and Vincent Jackson hooked up 10 times for 138 yards and two touchdowns. I look for them to improve even more this week, while looking to spread out the offense by getting Mike Williams more involved. On the opposing side we have an unimpressive Carolina team that has 3 wins against opponents with a combined record of 4-15. The Bucs D is 5th best in the league against the run allowing only 88.8 yards per game which is going to force Cam Newton to throw the ball and Carolina is currently 28th in the league in passing yards per game averaging only 197.3. I know the past two weeks Cam has gone 35-43 throwing for 5 touchdowns and no picks with a passer rating of 140.9, but come on lets be real here, those games were against Minnesota and St. Louis and I don’t see them making the playoffs, or even getting over .500 anytime soon.