The Worksheet, a fantasy football overview by Rich Hribar, breaking down everything you need to know for the Week 18 Carolina Panthers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday afternoon game.
| Carolina | Rank | @ | Tampa Bay | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7.5 | Spread | -7.5 | ||
| 17.5 | Implied Total | 25 | ||
| 17.9 | 29 | Points/Gm | 29.4 | 2 |
| 22.7 | 19 | Points All./Gm | 21 | 10 |
| 64.7 | 11 | Plays/Gm | 67.4 | 3 |
| 60.5 | 4 | Opp. Plays/Gm | 63.9 | 21 |
| 4.6 | 31 | Off. Yards/Play | 6 | 3 |
| 5 | 2 | Def. Yards/Play | 5.2 | 9 |
| 41.45% | 17 | Rush% | 33.83% | 32 |
| 58.55% | 16 | Pass% | 66.17% | 1 |
| 46.90% | 29 | Opp. Rush % | 33.27% | 1 |
| 53.10% | 4 | Opp. Pass % | 66.73% | 32 |
Motivation or Rest Alert
The Buccaneers are the No. 3 seed but can climb to the No. 2 spot if they win and the Rams lose. Bruce Arians has already stated that the Bucs will not rest anyone on Sunday, although it could happen in-game after Tampa Bay dusted Carolina 32-6 on the road two weeks ago.
Carolina is eliminated from the postseason.
Quarterback
Tom Brady: Brady used a late-game flurry to deliver his fifth top-three scoring week (26.4 points) last week against the Jets. With the loss of Antonio Brown, Brady is down another weapon to work around to close the year while the team also has more injuries in their backfield this week. Brady had 14.4 fantasy points against Carolina two weeks ago, completing 18-of-30 passes for 232 yards and a touchdown. For as many issues the Panthers have had this year, they have consistently been a good defense, allowing 12.8 passing points per game (sixth). Given the losses on this offense and the matchup, Brady is a lower-end QB1 to close the season for fantasy.
