Tap's Thursday Night Picks

Thursday night football can be entertaining, sloppy, and everything else under the sun honestly. I make picks to help clear your head. 

NFL
Carolina (3-3) (-7) at Tampa Bay (0-6) 7:25 NFLN - Ever watch a coach get fired?  If you are interested, it might happen tonight after the Buccaneers game against Carolina. Greg Schiano is on thin ice and Michael Silver of NFL.com's column about the players giving up on him does not help things whatsoever. If they were to get embarrassed at home, I doubt he has a job on Monday morning. This feels like a blowout where you put the mortgage on Carolina. I have been wrong about these picks before (See: Houston-Kansas City) but this feels like a given.

The Panthers defense is the second-best scoring defense in the National Football League going up against a rookie quarterback in Mike Glennon and a backup running back with Doug Martin being out with injury. They are not only going to force turnovers but also Tampa will struggle to score points. Carolina is also playing better on offense led by Cam Newton who is putting together a quiet nice season. Panthers have the first chance to be above .500 since 2008 which blows my mind. I could not imagine watching a team for four years and change. I have no doubt in my mind that Newton and this defense establish control in this one. CAR 31-10

Quick sidenote: The hilarious thing about this one is many people will watch this game because of Newton and their fantasy team. I, for one, have Cam in two leagues, the Panthers defense and Greg Olsen starting this week so my eyes will be peeled yet still baseball is the number one watch tonight.

College Football
Kentucky at Mississippi State 6:30 pm ESPN - Quite possibly the worst Thursday night slate I have seen in quite some time. Baseball should be thanking the gods right now.  Kentucky is still a couple years away from being a strong SEC team and Mississippi State has been treading water since they were undefeated for a minute last season. Since their whiff of unbeaten, the Bulldogs are 4-8 and head coach Dan Mullen is directly on the hot seat. Odds are he will likely be fired unless Mississippi State starts winning football games again. If he were to lose to Kentucky, it might be curtains for Mullen. Dak Prescott is not a bad quarterback for the Bulldogs and their defense can definitely stall Kentucky's weak offense. I will ride with Mississippi State here. MISS STATE 24-14

Charlie.