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We finally saw what it looks like with Tom Brady not in a New England Patriots uniform on Sunday. He suited up for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and suffered a 34-23 loss in the season opener against the New Orleans Saints. It certainly wasn’t his best game, but Brady put up decent numbers in the debut.
On the other side, the Carolina Panthers are attempting to move on from the Cam Newton era and were defeated by the Las Vegas Raiders 34-30. Teddy Bridgewater looked good in his first game with Carolina. He threw for 270 yards and a touchdown, but he’s looking to get his new team into the win column against the Buccaneers.
TV Info
Date: September 20
Time: 1 EST
Channel: FOX
Broadcast region: TBD
Notable Statistical rankings (Football Outsiders)
Panthers: 12th vs. Pass, 32nd vs. Rush
Bucs: 13th vs. Pass, 1st vs. Rush
DraftKings Sportsbook odds
Panthers: +8.5
Bucs: -8.5
Total: 47.5
Pick: Buccaneers
Injury report
Panthers
G Dennis Daley (ankle), DT Kawann Short (foot), DE Yetur Gross-Matos (eye), WR Pharoh Cooper (ribs), CB Donte Jackson (ankle), LB Shaq Thompson (groin), DE Stephen Weatherly (hamstring)
Bucs
WR Chris Godwin (concussion), TE Antony Auclair (calf), WR Mike Evans (hamstring), T Donovan Smith (knee), S Jordan Whitehead (elbow)
Fantasy football start/sit advice
Panthers
Robby Anderson: What a debut it was for Anderson with his new team on Sunday. He caught six passes for 115 yards and scored a touchdown for the Panthers. Having said that, 75 of those yards came on one play. It’s difficult to do that consistently, but it’s certainly a positive showing for Anderson and what his season could look like. Even with the big-time Week 1 performance, he should only be looked at as a flex option in deeper leagues.
Bucs
Rob Gronkowski: In his Buccaneers debut, Gronkowski finished with two catches for 11 yards, while fellow tight end O.J. Howard caught four balls for 36 yards and scored a touchdown. Gronkowski might still need some time to get into the swing of things, so it’s tough to trust him as a TE1 at this point.
Ronald Jones: He received the bulk of the backfield work for Tampa Bay on Sunday. The third-year running back carried the ball 17 times for 66 yards, while Leonard Fournette had five carries for five yards. If Jones can consistently dominate the touches category, he could enter into RB2 status on a weekly basis.