Buccaneers at Panthers

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The Buccaneers travel to Carolina Monday night to face the defending NFC Champions, but the title comes with an asterisk next to it.

Already without Pro Bowl cornerback Josh Norman (signed with Washington in the offseason) and running back Jonathan Stewart (hamstring), the Panthers (1-3) are now down MVP quarterback Cam Newton, who sustained a concussion in last week?s loss in Atlanta. Enter Derek Anderson *? a 12-year veteran who has only started two games for the Panthers since 2011, and won both against the Bucs in 2014.

Tampa Bay, meanwhile, will (more than likely) be without multiple key players as well, including defensive tackles Gerald McCoy (calf) and Clinton McDonald (hamstring), defensive ends Robert Ayers (ankle) and Noah Spence (shoulder) and running backs Doug Martin (hamstring) and Charles Sims (knee), all listed as doubtful. Head coach Dirk Koetter and defensive coordinator Mike Smith have emphasized the ?next man up? mentality when addressing the Bucs? injury misfortunes.

For the Tampa Bay to pull off a much-needed, nationally televised divisional road victory heading into its bye, it will likely need to follow the Falcons? blueprint, particularly on offense. If all goes as planned, Mike Evans and company will have big nights in Primetime, provided turnovers are kept to a minimum and Winston and the Bucs offense can sustain drives.

PewterReport.com Publisher & Bucs Beat Writer Scott Reynolds
I should probably pick the Panthers. Derek Anderson is a really good backup quarterback, who is capable of winning games in the NFL. He swept the Bucs twice in 2014, and Tampa Bay still hasn?t shown it can beat backup-caliber QBs or rookie quarterbacks over the last decade. Anderson has receivers Kelvin Benjamin and Philly Brown, and tight end Greg Olsen at his disposal against a shaky Bucs secondary where the safety positions are the weak link. If defensive tackles Gerald McCoy and Clinton McDonald along with defensive end Noah Spence don?t play due to injury, there may not be much of a pass rush with just Will Gholston, who may be forced to move inside, and defensive end Howard Jones. Giving Anderson all day to find open receivers and pick apart the Bucs secondary won?t help Tampa Bay?s chances ? even if Carolina doesn?t have much of a running game without Cam Newton and Jonathan Stewart.

Jameis Winston needs to rise to the occasion, play turnover-free football and exploit the Panthers? secondary, which is weaker than the Bucs, on Monday Night Football. While Anderson has Benjamin, Brown and Olsen to throw to, Winston has wide receivers Mike Evans, Adam Humphries and Vincent Jackson, and tight end Cameron Brate on his side. That?s enough for the Bucs to light up the scoreboard. Look for Humphries, who played at nearby Clemson, to play inspired football, and for Evans to take advantage of Carolina?s rookie-laden cornerback position. Winston needs to take over this game and out-duel Anderson for the win, as the Bucs will likely have to rely on Jacquizz Rodgers and Peyton Barber to step in for the ailing Doug Martin and Charles Sims to provide some balance on offense.

This game will come down to three things: the turnover battle, the winner of the QB duel, and also the winner of the middle linebacker duel. This game features two of the best middle linebackers in Carolina?s Luke Kuechly and Tampa Bay?s Kwon Alexander. Both are capable of taking games over. The one who steps up as the bigger playmaker on Monday night will greatly increase his team?s chances of winning. Although Kuechly is the better and more experienced Mike linebacker, I?m inclined to pick Alexander in this one. He?s been playing so well this season and the national stage could be Alexander?s coming out party for the rest of the league.

History suggests all of this is wishful thinking, and that I should pick the Panthers, but the Bucs need to change course eventually if they are to turn their franchise?s fortunes around. What better time and place than on Monday Night Football in Carolina? With a 1-3 record, it?s now or never for the Bucs? 2016 season.

--Bucs Beat Writer Scott Reynolds

 

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Are Carolina Panthers at a crossroads on Monday night vs. Bucs?


Slow starts are nothing new for the Carolina Panthers under Ron Rivera, but the sixth-year coach hoped his team was past them.

The Panthers will drag a 1-3 record into Monday night?s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, another 1-3 team that ? like Carolina ? is expected to be missing several key starters on both sides of the ball.

The difference? The Buccaneers were not picked to be much more than a potential wild-card team in coach Dirk Koetter?s first season, while many expected the Panthers to vie for another Super Bowl berth ? Rivera included.


?I started this year with the challenge of wanting to get back. And I still have that. I also think (there?s an) additional challenge now of where we are,? Rivera said. ?I?m not happy with where we are. I?m disappointed with myself and things that we can be. I think we as a football team can most certainly be better, but we?ll see what happens.?

The Panthers will try to right themselves without four injured starters, including quarterback Cam Newton. The reigning league MVP will miss his third game in six seasons as he deals with post-concussion symptoms stemming from a fourth-quarter hit during last week?s 48-33 loss at Atlanta.

Carolina also will be without running back Jonathan Stewart, left tackle Michael Oher and No. 1 cornerback James Bradberry. In addition to the injury hits, the Panthers jettisoned starting corner Ben? Benwikere five days after they became the first team in NFL history to allow a 500-yard passer and 300-yard receiver in the same game.

With the mounting injuries and Rivera saying the team was ?retooling? five weeks into the season, Monday night?s game feels like a turning-point moment for the Panthers.

Since the NFL adopted the current, 12-team playoff system in 1990, 27 teams have made the postseason after starting 1-3 or worse.

Only 12 teams since the 1966 merger have overcome a 1-4 start or worse to make the playoffs, although Kansas City and Houston did it last season.

Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis said he doesn?t view Monday as a crossroads.

?We?re just focused in on making sure we win this football game, by any means necessary. We don?t really get caught up ? with it being this early in the season ? about being a fork-in-the-road type situation,? Davis said. ?We just know that this is the next opponent up and this is a game we have to win.?

Familiar ground

The Panthers started 1-3 or worse in each of Rivera?s first three seasons before playing better down the stretch. The 2013 team rattled off 10 victories in a row after its 1-3 start to claim the first of three consecutive NFC South crowns.

Several players last week said this season feels more like 2014, when Newton missed two games against Tampa Bay because of injuries and the offensive line struggled to protect him.

That team started 2-2 before going two months without a win, but rallied to win its final four and capture the division with a 7-8-1 record.

Tight end Ed Dickson said the Panthers? veteran core won?t let this season go off the rails.

?We?re not going to fold up the tents at all. That?s where you get to two years ago when we lost six, seven games straight and then turn around,? Dickson said. ?You go through a bad slump. You go through injuries. Injuries happen in this league. What happened to our quarterback ? things like that happen. What happened to Ben?, they wanted to go in a different direction.?

The Bucs are dealing with their own injury concerns.

Tampa Bay listed five starters as doubtful, including three-fourths of the defensive line, running back Doug Martin and tight end Luke Stocker. No. 2 running back Charles Sims also is doubtful.

So the Panthers will get no sympathy from Koetter, who was asked last week if he?d prefer facing Carolina at its best with a healthy Newton.

?I?d like to beat them, however possible,? Koetter told Tampa reporters. ?That?s what I?d like to do.?

History with Anderson

Tampa Bay lost to the Panthers twice in 2014 when Derek Anderson filled in for an injured Newton.

Both were low-scoring games in which Anderson took care of the ball (no interceptions) and took what the Bucs? defense gave him. Anderson threw a total of three touchdown passes in the two games, but his longest completion was 26 yards.

Not surprisingly, he threw to tight end Greg Olsen (24 combined targets) and wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin (21 targets) a lot. Olsen, a two-time Pro Bowler, was the Panthers? leading receiver in each game.

Anderson said the Bucs? scheme and his read progressions will dictate his throws.

?It?s not like I?m going to come out and just throw it to Greg. It?s looks, it?s play calls,? he said. ?I don?t go to the line of scrimmage saying, ?Oh, I?ve got to throw it to Greg every time.? ?

Offense is ?totally different?

The Panthers have struggled to run the ball in the two games Stewart has missed with a hamstring injury. That task will be harder without Newton as a running threat on zone-read plays or scrambles.

Koetter said the Panthers? offense is ?totally different? with Anderson behind center.

?They?re not going to run their quarterback runs, they?re not going to run the option. They?re going to be more of a traditional NFL offense,? Koetter said. ?And let?s face it, Cam?s the MVP of the league. Taking him out, that?s like to a lesser degree us taking Doug Martin out.?

Newton?s status for next week?s game at New Orleans is uncertain. Rivera said Newton is progressing in the concussion protocol, but is yet to do any of the noncontact drills that are part of the process.

Newton will be watching Monday as Anderson ? as well as other backups who have been thrust into starting roles ? try to keep the season from taking another turn south.

?That?s how we?ve been able to be who we become ? by having guys step up in time of need. And this is a time of need for our football team,? said Davis, the Panthers? longest-tenured player.

?We have starters that are injured. We have guys that have lost their jobs. So it?s important for us to rally around each other. I don?t expect this week or this year to be any different than any past year.?