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5 things to know about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Panthers’ Week 8 opponent

By Johnny Wakefield
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston (3) throws a pass from the pocket during the second half of an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills, Sunday, Oct. 22, 2017, in Orchard Park, N.Y. The Bills beat the Buccaneers 30-27. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston (3) throws a pass from the pocket during the second half of an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills, Sunday, Oct. 22, 2017, in Orchard Park, N.Y. The Bills beat the Buccaneers 30-27. (AP Photo/Adrian Kraus) Adrian Kraus AP

It hasn’t been the greatest month in Carolina Panthers history. Back-to-back losses to the Eagles and Bears have dropped Ron Rivera’s team to a 4–3 record, and legitimate questions about the offense need some answers. Will Cam provide them on Sunday in Tampa? Let’s hope so.

Each week in the 2017 season, CharlotteFive will give you a quick preview of the Panthers’ upcoming opponent — sometimes love, sometimes hate, sometimes just things to know.

We’ll leave the legitimate previews to the pros at the Observer.

The two-win, four-loss Tampa Bay Buccaneers play host on Sunday afternoon, and our NFC South “rivals” might be as frustrated as we are, if not more so. They’ve lost three in a row themselves, but unlike the Panthers, their defense is mostly to blame. We’ll talk about that and more in this week’s “5 things.”

(Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. in Tampa, and the game will be broadcast on FOX.)

(1) Defense isn’t their strong suit

While an inconsistent offense has driven Panthers fans crazy in 2017, at least we’ve known that Thomas Davis and company on the defensive side of the ball are still ridiculously good. The third-best Carolina D held Chicago to record-low offensive statistics last week: The Bears offense had only five first downs, attempted seven passes, and kicked one field goal.

The Tampa Bay defense? Well, they’re not Panthers.

The Buccaneers defensive unit is ranked 30th in the NFL, third worst, allowing over 400 yards per game. They’re third worst against the pass, allowing 294.8 yards per game on average, and mediocre against the run, allowing 113.7 yards per game, good for a middle of the pack 16th.

Considering they were decent on that side of the ball in 2016, that performance has come as a bit of a surprise in Tampa, and players are complaining about it. 

Long may that continue.

(2) But offense isn’t our strength either

As the Buccaneer defense has struggled, so has the Panther offense. One of those will have to give on Sunday afternoon, and everyone in Carolina hopes it’s the latter: Cam and company need a big game to restore hope in their 2017 campaign.

The last two defeats have seen some of the least-attractive football on the offensive side of the ball in recent memory. Cam’s combined stat line in those two games? Forty-nine for 86, 450 yards in the air, 1 touchdown, 5 interceptions, and 7 sacks. He did run for a touchdown against Philadelphia too, but the recent performance from Superman has been less than super (especially since the final quarter of Thursday Night Football).

And it’s clearly wearing on him:

Fair questions about the offense being met with annoyance and frustration? Yeah, okay, we’re frustrated too. Let’s hope Cam can turn the offense around this weekend against a cupcake defense… or the questions will only get louder.

(3) Insert Jameis Winston crab leg jokes here

So the quarterback for Tampa Bay, Jameis Winston, you might have heard of him: He stole some crab legs once.

Of course, Winston also won the National Championship with Florida State in 2013, won the Heisman Trophy that year too, and went on to be the #1 overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft… but let’s remember the crab legs.

Since being drafted, Winston hasn’t exactly been MVP material, but it’s still early in his young career. He has gone 2–2 against the Panthers in two seasons, throwing 4 touchdowns and 7 interceptions in those four games. He has the Tampa Bay offense off to a decent start in 2017, but that 2–4 record isn’t great, and a shoulder injury is earning him some flak for missing practices.

That said, he threw for 384 yards and 3 touchdowns against Buffalo last week, so the Panthers defense will need to be ready: Mr. Biscuit, he is not. (Mr. Crab Cake? Moving on, sorry.)

(4) Roberto Aguayo though

Hilariously, the Buccaneers traded up to select a kicker in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Roberto Aguayo played at Florida State, and with that second round pick came a lot of attention and pressure, pressure he simply couldn’t handle.

“At that point it’s like I felt like I had to be someone different, someone better,” Aguayo said to the Observer’s Jordan Rodrigue on Wednesday. “A second-round person.”

After missing some key field goals, Aguayo was cut in the preseason by Tampa Bay and again by Chicago before the preseason was finished, but now he’s back: The kicker was signed by the Panthers to the practice squad earlier this week.

Should Graham Gano not be able to go at any point this season (he’s battling some knee issues, but should be fine this weekend), the Panthers needed some insurance, and Aguayo looks to be it.

Fine by me: The Seminole was the best kicker in college football in 2013, winning the Lou Groza Award that year. If he can rebuild his career with the Panthers, all the better… we didn’t have to use that draft pick. Here’s hoping he does.

(5) Meh rivalry, but another should-be win

The Buccaneers and Panthers should probably have a bigger rivalry having been in the same division since 2002, but for the last decade or so, the Falcons and Saints have been better matchups. This game was bigger back when Jon Gruden and John Fox roamed the sidelines, before the internet had graphics, but Jameis vs. Cam doesn’t move the needle for many NFL fans in 2017. The Bucs just haven’t been good enough.

Carolina leads the all-time series with Tampa Bay with a 20–12 record and holds the largest margin of victory, a 48–16 win on Christmas Eve in 2011.

But the last two matchups (in a 2016 season to forget) were Buccaneers wins. I still don’t want to talk about the last 20 seconds of the last game of last season, a 17–16 Panthers loss on New Years Day, so we won’t do that here.

Instead, we’ll hope the numbers play out, that 20–12 goes to 21–12, that the Buccaneers defense is the medicine the Panthers offense needs to reignite their 2017 season, and that we can all enjoy some Publix seafood after the game, celebrating a much-needed Carolina victory. Keep Pounding.

Photo: Adrian Kraus/AP

This story was originally published October 26, 2017 at 10:00 PM with the headline "5 things to know about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Panthers’ Week 8 opponent."

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