As Tampa Bay’s Tom Brady stands tall, Panthers’ pass rush doesn’t get there (again)
Tom Brady looked.
And looked.
And looked.
This was in the second quarter, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — an eventual 31-17 winner over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday — already up 14-0 but facing a third-and-6 on Carolina’s 13.
For once, Brady’s initial reads were all covered. And he had to hold the ball, because to throw it away would be to give up the series and have to kick a field goal.
But holding the ball proved to be no problem, because the Panthers had no pass rush. Brady waited until running back Leonard Fournette adjusted a route, then completed a 12-yard strike. Fournette scored on a 1-yard run on the next play.
The play showed once again one of the Panthers’ primary problems — they have zero sacks through two games. Brady usually gets the ball out of his hands within 2.5 seconds or so of the snap, but even when he held the ball longer Sunday he was hardly ever pressured. One contributor: The Panthers only rushed three men a number of times in the first half Sunday, before going with at least a four-man rush more often in the second half. “We had to go to a little more of a mindset of blitzing,” Panthers coach Matt Rhule said.
The rare exception came in the third quarter, when Brady felt some pressure from Zach Kerr and overthrew Rob Gronkowski. Donte Jackson picked that one off and sped 44 yards with it.
But in general, especially in the first half, Carolina’s rush was invisible. That hurt. Carolina tried hard to get pressure with a four-man rush, because Brady so often burns a blitz. In the second half, it got somewhat better and the Panthers’ defense as a whole was better. But Carolina still never sacked Brady.
▪ Christian McCaffrey, the Panthers’ franchise running back, was injured in the fourth quarter on his second touchdown run. He hurt his ankle on the 7-yard run with 13:25 to go and didn’t return for the rest of the game. McCaffrey has scored two touchdowns in each of Carolina’s first two games. Backup running back Mike Davis finished the game for the Panthers. McCaffrey stayed on the sidelines, trying occasionally to put weight on the injured ankle, but not returning. The severity of his injury was not immediately clear; Rhule characterized it as a lower-leg injury.
▪ For “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” commonly referred to as the Black national anthem, the Panthers lined up at one end zone as they did last week. However, the Buccaneers weren’t on the field for the song. Both teams were on the field for the national anthem, with a handful of Carolina players kneeling for it.
▪ Carolina’s four turnovers — a fumble and two interceptions by Teddy Bridgewater and a lost fumble by wide receiver Robby Anderson — contributed to a much more sloppy offensive game than last week for the Panthers. However, Bridgewater looked substantially better in the second half and ended up throwing for 367 yards.
▪ The game pitted former Temple head coaches against each other in Tampa’s Bruce Arians and Carolina’s Matt Rhule. Rhule did have a good coach’s challenge on Carolina’s 93-yard drive, getting officials to overrule what was originally determined to be an incomplete sideline pass to Anderson.
▪ Panthers linebacker Tahir Whitehead continues to have trouble in pass coverage.
▪ Panthers rookie Derrick Brown had two brutal penalties: an illegal use of hands that gave the Bucs a first down on third-and-9 and a late hit in the first quarter that meant the difference between a touchdown and a field goal for Tampa Bay.
▪ Worst drop: Tampa Bay wide receiver Cyril Grayson had a 46-yard touchdown lined up when Brady hit him on a sideline route in the third quarter. Instead, the ball banged right off Grayson’s face and shoulders, and the Buccaneers had to punt. Brady had another potential touchdown pass dropped in the fourth quarter by LeSean McCoy.
▪ The fake crowd noise is best when it fades deep into the background. For some reason, I’m fine with it when it is a lot of random cheering, but the fake boos from the fake fans when the home team is called for a penalty irritates me.
▪ Tampa Bay’s Gronkowski was no factor Sunday except when he recovered a late onsides kick.
This story was originally published September 20, 2020 at 4:30 PM.
