The Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will play in an NFC South matchup with lopsided amounts of motivation. The Panthers, losers of six straight, are eliminated from playoff contention and seemingly in the final days of Matt Rhule’s tenure as head coach. The Bucs have their eyes set on moving into the No. 2 seed, which they can accomplish with a win and some help from the 49ers in their game against the Rams.

Continue reading for our free NFL picks and predictions for Panthers vs Buccaneers on Sunday, January 9.

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Ah, Week 18 of the NFL season: “Where people throw ducks at balloons and nothing’s the way it seems.”

The final slate of regular season games is a mixed bag of motivations, with plenty of playoff pressure twisting the betting markets. Then you have teams already in the tournament potentially protecting their stars and resting players. And, of course, many teams have nothing on the line in the finale, so you want to find out who’s going down swinging and who’s already got flights booked to Cabo. 

We try to get ahead of one of the wildest weeks in NFL wagering with my “Bet Now, Bet Later” lines for Week 18, telling you which lines could hold more value if you take them early and which ones still need to ripen. 

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The New Orleans Saints head to Foxborough on Sunday to try and jump-start an offense that has scored just three touchdowns over 16 quarters. The England Patriots sit as a slight favorite in NFL odds with a total of 40 in a game trending towards Mac Jones and Derek Carr both starting.

With a stumbling offense, a banged-up Carr, and some possible poor passing conditions, is there any reason to back the Saints offense, especially when the Pats brought in JC Jackson to replace an injured Christian Gonzalez?

Here are my free NFL picks for Week 5 odds between the Saints and Patriots.

Saints vs Patriots odds

Saints vs Patriots predictions

The Saints failed to get into the end zone in their Week 4 matchup against…

The Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins both needed come-from-behind victories in Week 1, setting up what looks like another close contest for Thursday Night Football.

The NFL Week 2 odds have the Dolphins as slim home favorites, with the Monday morning markets ranging from -1 to -2. This is a huge game for these AFC East rivals, and my Bills vs. Dolphins predictions back the slim underdogs to get the inside track on a tight divisional race.

I size up the opening odds, early movement, and outstanding edges as I give my early lean on NFL picks for September 12.

Bills vs Dolphins predictions

Early spread leanBuffalo +2 (-110 at FanDuel)

My analysisThe Buffalo Bills got a scare from the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, rallying ba…

WE’RE UP FOR THE CUP! SORT OF …

It’s never ideal being knocked out of the FA Cup, but the real worry for Liverpool’s Vincibles is the way everyone’s talking about the Premier League being a done deal. Of course they’re going to win it, the commentariat chorus. The fans have been singing the same song too – though after the last four days, good luck finding one who, secretly behind closed doors, isn’t obsessively poring over what’s left of the fixture list, searching for the likeliest source of those elusive 12 points, while at night waking up at regular intervals in a cold sweat after dreaming of being chased barefoot across broken glass by Dejan Lovren and 10 other Dejan Lovrens. And that�…

As the transfer window enters its endgame there has been a familiar sub-plot over the last few days, another chapter in the ballad of Ousmane Dembélé.

This is the strangest of sporting lives. Dembélé is only 24. He joined Barcelona for £96m as long ago as August 2017, one of several deals that were steroid-fed by the state of Qatar’s inflationary lust for Neymar.

In the years since Dembélé has essentially become a prisoner of money. Barcelona can’t afford to keep him. Nobody else wants him on those ruinous terms. His career has dissolved into a kind of gilded stasis, a thing that only really comes alive as the biannual sub-industry of failing to sell Ousmane Dembélé cranks into gear.

John Terry remov…

Lionel Messi scored early in normal time and converted the first shot in penalties as Inter Miami beat Nashville SC 10-9 in a shootout in the Leagues Cup final on Saturday night.

Nashville SC 1-1 Inter Miami (aet, pens 9-10): Leagues Cup final 2023 – as it happenedRead more

Messi scored for the 10th time in seven games since joining Inter Miami – all in the Leagues Cup competition – converting in the 23rd minute.

The ball landed at Messi’s feet after a pass from teammate Robert Taylor was blocked. Messi dribbled past Nashville defender Walker Zimmerman and unleashed a bending shot from just outside the penalty box into the top left corner of the goal. Diving goalkeeper Elliot Panicco had no chance at playing th…

The Pacific division title (if that means anything to anyone anymore) has been passed around by Clippers, Warriors, and Lakers for over a decade. The last time the Suns won the division, it wasn’t hip for Steve Nash to put his long hair in a man bun. And the Kings? Well, I wish I could remember the 2002 Western Conference Finals and the ‘03 division championship team, but I didn’t start following basketball until I was around 9. (Ed. note: Good grief, do I suddenly feel old — Rich O’Malley) Sacramento hasn’t just been inept for a matter of years. No, no. What they’ve done is truly historic. They’re closing in on a generation of irrelevance. I mean, even the Knicks made an Eastern Conference semifinals in 2013. But, in fairness, winning the Pacific is hard. The division…

So Donald Trump took the stage at an anti-Iran-deal rally to the strains of R.E.M.’s “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine),” and Michael Stipe got all salty about it, and, well, look out. You’re welcome. Bernie Sanders: “Welcome to the Occupation” Hillary Clinton: “She Just Wants to Be” Joe Biden: “I’m Gonna DJ” Lincoln Chafee: “Sad Professor” Martin O’Malley: “Ignoreland” Jim Webb: “Can’t Get There From Here” Jeb Bush: “The Wrong Child” Ben Carson: “Why Not Smile” Chris Christie: “Perfect Circle” Ted Cruz: “Try Not to Breathe” Mark Everson: “Strange Currencies” Carly Fiorina: “How the West Was Won and Where It Got Us” Jim Gilmore: “Binky the Doormat” Lindsey Graham: “Country Feedbac…

The Pittsburgh Steelers are releasing three-time All-Pro cornerback Patrick Peterson, multiple outlets reported Friday. Peterson signed a two-year, $14 million contract with the Steelers last March. The move will save the team nearly $7 million in salary cap space, per ESPN. Peterson, 33, appeared in 17 games (16 starts) in his only season in Pittsburgh. He had two interceptions, 11 passes defensed and 42 tackles, and he played 97 percent of the defensive snaps. The fifth overall pick of the 2011 NFL Draft by the Cardinals, he played his first 10 seasons in Arizona and was selected to the Pro Bowl in each of the first eight. He also was a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's All-2010s team. Peterson also played two seasons (2021-22) for the Minnesota Vikings. In 201 care…