After a devastating loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the Carolina Panthers now find themselves on the outside looking in with a record of 6-5. While the season may feel like it has gone down the gutter, there is still a chance the Panthers can regroup in the last five weeks. They have a perfect chance to do that starting with a matchup versus the 4-7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Dirk Koetter’s team started red hot and backup quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick had everyone believing in magic. However, the team has cooled off going 2-5 since their bye week. The Panthers defeated the Bucs back in Week Nine this season, 42-28, but it was too close for comfort for Carolina. After jumping out to a big lead, Ron Rivera‘s team put it in cruise control and watched Tampa Bay nearly tie things up late in the fourth quarter, a problem the Panthers have struggled with this season.
The first encounter with Tampa Bay was a big revelation for offensive coordinator Norv Turner and his offense. He started utilizing his young talented playmakers more often in the offense and created more quarterback friendly play designs to get the ball out of Cam Newton‘s hands quicker. Hopefully this time around, defensive coordinator Eric Washington can have a similar revelation of his own with the Panthers defense.
Cam Newton Must Prepare for a Shootout in Week 13 Versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Getting Into a Groove
The Panthers have been a hot mess in 2018, to put it bluntly. The offense has been far too conservative at times while the defense has been a liability week in and week out. Carolina’s defense has given up on average 34 points to opposing teams the last three games and they have not held an opponent under 20 points since their Week Seven matchup versus the Philadelphia Eagles.
After losing two close winnable games in a row, the Panthers need a big victory against the Buccaneers on Sunday. More importantly, they need to find themselves an identity and a formula for winning games. This defense is no longer capable of holding the opponent to single digits or forcing multiple three and out drives under Washington. So Rivera and Turner need to find a way for the offense to run loose down the stretch. What they’ve been doing the past few weeks is promising, but they can turn it up a notch still.
D.J. Moore and Curtis Samuel need to see more touches in the red zone while Christian McCaffrey out of the backfield needs to continue to be a focal point. The second-year back has 71 receptions on the season with zero drops. Tight end Greg Olsen has faded from the offense a bit since returning from injury, but getting him looks over the middle of the field should free up other targets. Most importantly, Turner needs to be able to trust Newton in running the offense. We saw in the second half of the Eagles game, Newton thrives in no-huddle scenarios. While not every series should run as such, the Panthers need to find the perfect balance and let Newton do his own thing from time to time. He has done an exceptional job at taking care of the ball this season only turning it over 12 times.
Taking Advantage of Tampa’s Turnovers
Tampa Bay will start Jameis Winston Sunday and the young quarterback has struggled against the Panthers in his career. He has thrown five touchdowns compared to nine interceptions and has fumbled the ball six times in six career games versus Carolina. The Buccaneers ranks last in the NFL with a -21 turnover margin this year and the Panthers defense have to be licking their chops at the opportunity.
Washington’s unit has not forced a turnover over the last three games but will need to do so in order to win on Sunday. The team is 5-0 when winning the turnover battle this season and is 52-5-1 since Rivera took over the team. It starts up front with the defensive line and creating pressure on Winston. Julius Peppers, Mario Addison, Wes Horton, and Kawaan Short have struggled to pressure the quarterback this year, recording 25 sacks as a team, which is ranks 23rd in the league. Washington will need to rely on blitz packages with Shaq Thompson, Luke Kuechly, Thomas Davis and the secondary in order to create pressure on Winston Sunday.
The Last Word
This week’s game will be very telling of how the rest of the season will go for the Panthers. A convincing double-digit victory gives hope that Carolina can put something together down the stretch. A close, sloppy win means that the Panthers may not have what it takes to get into the postseason. The Buccaneers are a decent team but the Panthers have more talent across the board. Newton and the Panthers could not ask for a better matchup to get themselves back on track. And for Rivera, hopefully, he learns to mix things up a little and allow his best players to flourish. It was not too long ago (2013) when Rivera received criticism for being too conservative and was in danger of his losing his job. However, he changed his philosophy up and earned the nickname “Riverboat Ron” and turned the team around. This year’s Panthers team could certainly use some of that as down dow the stretch.
Best Case Scenario
Carolina’s defense pressures Winston often and forces multiple turnovers. Rivera guns for touchdowns instead of field goals and the Panthers jump out to a comfortable lead. Turner has the offense’s foot on the gas pedal and develops a rhythm that will benefit the team going forward.
Worst Case Scenario
The Panthers defense continues to struggle and it turns into a back and forth shootout. Newton and the offense are forced to put up 40+ points just to keep up with the Buccaneers offense. Graham Gano fails to come through in another big moment, throwing the Panthers season down the drain.
Offensive MVP: Greg Olsen – 8 receptions, 97 yards, 2 touchdowns
Defensive MVP: Eric Reid – 10 tackles, 1 sack, 1 interception
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