{"id":24878,"date":"2012-09-08T10:26:46","date_gmt":"2012-09-08T15:26:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/?p=24878"},"modified":"2012-09-08T10:26:46","modified_gmt":"2012-09-08T15:26:46","slug":"cam-newton-carolina-panthers-qb-opens-up-the-2012-nfl-season-against-the-tampa-bay-buccaneers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/cam-newton-carolina-panthers-qb-opens-up-the-2012-nfl-season-against-the-tampa-bay-buccaneers-24878\/","title":{"rendered":"Cam Newton: Carolina Panthers QB Opens Up the 2012 NFL Season Against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Carolina Panthers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
\nSunday, 9\/9\/12, 4:25 PM EST, TV:\u00a0 FOX
\nOpening Point Spread:\u00a0 Carolina -3
\nCurrent Betting Line:\u00a0 Carolina -2.5
\nOpening Total:\u00a0 46.5
\nCurrent Total:\u00a0 47
\nOdds Courtesy of Bookmaker<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The Carolina Panthers dominated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in both series meetings last year<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Carolina looks to build off the momentum it enjoyed at the tail end of the 2011 campaign, winning four of its final six games, which is a good formula for potentially making a playoff run.\u00a0 \u201cWhatever was done in the past is in the past,\u201d commented Panthers quarterback Cam Newton.\u00a0 \u201cWe\u2019re focused on the future.\u201d\u00a0 The Panthers seem to be opening up against the perfect opponent, winning both of last year\u2019s meetings by a significant 86-35 margin.\u00a0 Carolina is 2-0 ATS as a road favorite the last two years.<\/p>\n

The Panthers will go as far as Newton takes them offensively, coming off a sensational rookie campaign, throwing for 21 touchdowns and reaching pay dirt 14 more times on the ground.\u00a0 Carolina has one of the best vertical threats in the league, with wide receiver Steve Smith coming off a 1,394-yard campaign, while the team\u2019s bread and butter continues to be a versatile run game.\u00a0 Jonathan Stewart, DeAngelo Williams and Newton are quite a triple threat to any opposing defense.<\/p>\n

Tampa Bay will hit the field under head coach Greg Schiano for the first time, as he comes from the college ranks after spending time as Miami\u2019s defensive coordinator and a long tenure as the leader of the Rutgers football program.\u00a0 \u201cEvery first game there is an element of surprise,\u201d stated Schiano this week.\u00a0 \u201cCoaches don\u2019t sit around all spring and summer.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s certainly a youth movement for this squad in the Sunshine State, considering rookie Doug Martin will start in the backfield over LeGarrette Blount.\u00a0 Tampa Bay is 1-6 ATS as a home underdog the last two years.<\/p>\n

The Buccaneers need quarterback Josh Freeman to return to his 2010 form, as he threw 25 touchdowns and just six picks in leading the franchise to a 10-6 record.\u00a0 The former Kansas State Wildcats star regressed mightily in his third year in the league, ranking second in the league with 22 interceptions.\u00a0 Tampa Bay allowed 818 yards in the two meetings a year ago, which includes 385 yards on the ground.\u00a0 It will be interesting to see if Schiano\u2019s defensive background improves those numbers.<\/p>\n

Sports bettors will likely back the Panthers due to their 5-2 ATS mark in the last seven meetings, while the underdog is 1-8 ATS in this series.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t miss out on a winning season and let the NFL handicappers at Maddux Sports line your pockets with cash.\u00a0 Long term packages are available now!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Carolina Panthers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday, 9\/9\/12, 4:25 PM EST, TV:\u00a0 FOX Opening Point Spread:\u00a0 Carolina -3 Current Betting Line:\u00a0 Carolina -2.5 Opening Total:\u00a0 46.5 Current Total:\u00a0 47 Odds Courtesy of Bookmaker Carolina looks to build off the momentum it enjoyed at the tail end of the 2011 campaign, winning four of its final […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":181,"featured_media":17237,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1444,132],"tags":[3365,279,759,31,2034,458],"class_list":["post-24878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines","category-nfl-handicapping","tag-cam-newton","tag-carolina-panthers","tag-josh-freeman","tag-nfl","tag-steve-smith","tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/181"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24878"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24878\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24879,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24878\/revisions\/24879"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madduxsports.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}