Week 5 Monday Night Football: Buccaneers at Panthers

The Panthers and Buccaneers have the same record entering Week 5. If you’d told me that would be the case before the season started, I would’ve assumed the Bucs were off to a hot 3-1 start.

Instead, the Panthers and Bucs have both struggled out of the gate. For the Bucs, that’s not a terrible surprise -- I expected them to be better than this, but Jameis Winston is inconsistent and the entire franchise is still a little rudderless.

But the defending NFC champions at 1-3? No one saw it coming. Cam Newton’s injuries have kept him limited, and he won’t be playing Monday night, but this Panthers team isn’t just Cam... or is it? So far, few players have stepped up to keep Carolina afloat.

I think they win tonight, but the Panthers are not the team they were in 2015.

Here’s what you need to know if you want to watch the game.

How to watch

Date: Monday, October 10, 2016
Time: 8:30 PM ET
Channel: ESPN
Location: Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina

Odds

Per Bovada, the Panthers are heavy favorites to win this game and inch closer to playing .500 ball.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers +6 (-105)
Carolina Panthers -6 (-115)

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Note: This is an open thread for the Sunday Night Football game. Feel free to discuss the game in the comment thread!