Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Carolina Panthers Prediction, Odds and Picks for Sunday, 12/21/25

Tampa Bay and Carolina enter Sunday’s critical NFC South matchup tied atop the division at 7-7. The Buccaneers have slumped down the stretch, dropping five of their last six games with the lone victory coming by three against the Cardinals in Week 13. Tampa Bay visits Bank of America Stadium against a Carolina squad that lost on field goal in the final seconds of last Sunday’s 20-17 defeat at New Orleans.

The Panthers are 5-1 off a loss this season, as Carolina led New Orleans, 17-7 late in the third quarter before the Saints scored the final 13 points of the game.  In the underdog role, Carolina has posted a solid 8-3 ATS mark, including a 4-1 ATS record at home. In their last home game, the Panthers stunned the Rams as 10.5-point underdogs, 31-28 in their highest-scoring game of the season. Carolina has scored 61 points in its last two games off a loss, but has also allowed 55 points in those victories.

Tampa Bay needs to get on track fast as the Buccaneers control their destiny with two meetings against the Panthers over the final three games. The Bucs shouldn’t be in this position, as they lost to two teams at home that are not headed to the playoffs – the Saints and Falcons. In fact, the Bucs are 0-6 ATS in the last six games, but have not been listed as a road favorite in this stretch. Tampa Bay is 2-0 SU/ATS in two opportunities when laying points away from Raymond James Stadium, winning at Atlanta and New Orleans. In the past 10 matchups, the Buccaneers are 9-1 against the Panthers and QB Baker Mayfield has not lost to Carolina since taking over in 2023. The trends point towards Carolina, but this looks like the get-right game for Tampa Bay to save its season, so we’ll lay the points with the Bucs.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Carolina Panthers prediction: Bucs -3 (-108) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

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