Reflecting on the Buccaneers-Panthers game
By: Jake Rajala
A boring day took place in the NFC South today. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers battled the Carolina Panthers. The Bucs came away with a win of 16-14. It reminded me of Super Bowl LIII, where the Pats won 13-3 against the Rams. The only difference is that this game was the toilet bowl, while the other was the Super Bowl.
With that said, I’m going to lay out five things we learned from the showdown.
Rico Dowdle
To put it simply, the Panthers won’t win with 10 rushing yards from Rico Dowdle. They need to get him going sooner. He only had two grabs, as well. The Bucs have the seventh best run defense, but they aren’t the ’85 Bears defense, nor are they the same Bucs defense that had Suh and Shaq Barrett. Dowdle hasn’t eclipsed 60 rushing yards in the past eight games. We’ve seen many abysmal games from Saquon Barkley and even Derrick Henry, so Rico shouldn’t feel too bad.
At least …
Panthers pass rush
The Panthers needed to take down Baker Mayfield far more than they did on Sunday. They only notched a pair of sacks. They should see if Julius Peppers wants to come out of retirement. I should turn the tables and point out that the Bucs didn’t record a single sack, however. This means it’s only concerning that Bryce Young still couldn’t drop a third touchdown on them.
Tetairoa McMillan
McMillan is pushing to win Offensive Rookie of the Year. He made his final case to win the award. He finished with 1,014 receiving yards and several touchdowns. I don’t believe he will win the award over Tyler Shough, who is on a four game winning streak and plays the QB spot. The last WR to win the award was Garrett Wilson in 2022, as he unleashed 1,103 yards and four TDs.
Bucs WRs
It wasn’t sunshine and rainbows for the top three Bucs WRs (Mike Evans, Emeka Egbuka, and Chris Godwin). Evans had 2 grabs for 34 yards. It looked like Marshon Lattimore was covering Evans. Godwin had one grab for 8 yards and Egbuka had one catch for 8 yards. Perhaps Keyshawn Johnson wants to put the cleats back on for the Bucs.
Panthers WRs
The Panthers WRs came to play on Saturday. As noted, McMillan balled out and has made a strong case for OROY. Well, he wasn’t alone. Jalen Coker had six catches for 47 yards and a touchdown. I would have liked to see former first round pick Xavier Leggete more than a couple of catches.
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