The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are set to travel to Bank of America Stadium to take on the Carolina Panthers in a week seven divisional matchup. Currently, the NFC South is up for grabs. Despite the Buccaneers coming into the season as obvious favorites to take the division, they have been unable to reignite the spark that led them to a Super Bowl victory in 2020. Despite the rocky start to the season, Tampa Bay still sits atop the NFC South with a record of 3-3, tied with the Atlanta Falcons for first. On the flip side, the Panthers came into the season projected to be one of the worst teams in the league, and they have lived up to those expectations. This season has been disastrous for Carolina and after two trades the Panthers were involved in this week, they will be even more shorthanded than before. Carolina currently sits in last place in the NFC South with a record of 1-5. This could end up being the game that the Buccaneers need to get their season back on track after the wake-up call that they had last week.
Tampa Bay Looks to Bounce Back After Embarrassing Loss to Pittsburgh Steelers
Tampa Bay is coming off of arguably the worst loss they have suffered this season. Last week, they were defeated by a rebuilding Pittsburgh Steelers team and rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett who was making his first career start. This was one of the few times in his illustrious career that Tom Brady was defeated by a rookie quarterback, let alone in their first career start. The Buccaneers appear to be a shell of the team that took down the 2020 Kansas City Chiefs, and this narrative has even been backed up by some of Tampa Bay’s coaching staff.
Last week was a wake-up call for the Bucs. This week, they are facing a depleted and tanking Carolina Panthers team. If they cannot get back on the right foot against a team like this, there is a chance that it never happens this season.
Carolina Panthers Finally Embrace the Tank
The Carolina Panthers made two big moves this week, trading both Robby Anderson and Chrisitan McCafferty. Anderson was traded after a heated exchange with coaches that led to him being kicked out of the game by his own team. It was clear that there would be no bouncing back from this situation and Anderson’s time with the Panthers had come to a close. Along with this, they also traded the face of their franchise at the time, Christian McCafferty. McCafferty has struggled to stay healthy over the past couple of seasons, and with him being one of the highest-paid running backs in the league, it made no sense for the Panthers to keep him on the team while they are trying to lose games. Without these two playmakers on the roster, there is little to no hope for the Panthers’ offense for the rest of the season. However, Tampa Bay is playing some of the worst football we have seen since Brady joined the team. If the Panthers can come out of the gates hot, they may be able to fend off the Bucs.
