Four Matchups That Matter
James Bradberry vs. Mike Evans
Mike Evans is the latest in a long line of #1 receivers Bradberry will be facing off with – after lining up against AJ Green, Julio Jones, Odell Beckham and Alshon Jeffery through the first eight weeks of the season, the Panthers #1 corner will get a taste of the 6-5 wideout who went off for 179 yards last week at Cincinnati and has had the fifth-most receiving yards in the league since his rookie season in 2014; he’s likely to hit his fifth consecutive season of 1,000 yards in 2018 and become only the third player in NFL history to start their career with five such seasons.
Bradberry has faced off with Evans multiple times in his career and the results have been up and down – the first matchup of last season saw Bradberry win the battle with five catches for 60 yards on 10 targets, but Evans had his revenge in Week 16 with a six-catch, 107-yard performance.
Donte Jackson vs. DeSean Jackson
Last week, the Panthers sicced Donte Jackson on John Brown and he was able to limit the Ravens’ #1 wide receiver to three catches for 28 yards a week after he blew up for 137 yards against New Orleans – this week, he’ll be lined up against DeSean Jackson, who will end his career whenever he hangs it up as one of the best deep threats in the history of the NFL. Jackson has 29 touchdowns of over 50 yards – the same number as Randy Moss and the second-most in NFL history – to go with four touchdowns of 80 yards or more, one away from the NFL record. The 31-year old doesn’t appear to have lost a step as he’s piled up 594 yards thus far this season, including a 75-yard touchdown.
“You get excited to go against somebody you’ve been watching for so long,” said Carolina’s version of D-Jack. “I can’t wait.”
“He’s still got it, I know that for a fact.”
Bucs D-Line vs. Panthers O-Line
Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated
While Jason Pierre-Paul and Gerald McCoy were both held out of practice on Thursday, the entire defensive line has the ability to change the game – let’s let guard Greg Van Roten give you a quick rundown:
“They’re big people, they’re dynamic, they’re strong – they all have different kinds of pass rushes; McCoy is very lateral but he also has good power. Beau Allen is a big person and Vita Vea is bigger than him. [Jason Pierre-Paul] will line up over everybody; he’ll come over the tackle, the guard, the center so you need to be aware of he is – he’s a lot of different things, you don’t know what you’re getting snap to snap. They’re a good mix up front of athleticism and strength, they rotate guys in well so nobody’s too tired, you’re always going to get their best shot.”
Trai Turner says playing against the Bucs twice a year means you know them even better, that matchups like this are more “personal” – the Panthers have rushed for the second-most yards per game thus far this season and have only allowed ten sacks on the season. They’ve held up against two of the best defensive lines in the league the past two weeks and this week will pose just as big of a test.
Panthers D-Line vs. Bucs O-Line
Between the Bucs’ high-powered downfield passing attack and their penchant for turning the ball over and falling behind teams, that doesn’t leave a lot of room for the run game – hence the fifth-worst rush yards per game average to go along with the fourth-worth adjusted line yards in the NFL. Combine that with the Panthers top-3 rush defense and it will be up to Ryan Fitzpatrick to beat the Panthers through the air – but with long-developing routes comes longer time in the pocket during pass plays, which will hopefully lead to more sacks.
“We know they’re going to come with six or seven man protections in order to give more time for those deeper routes,” said Wes Horton. “Someone’s going to have a one-on-one and whomever has that one-on-one has to win.”
The Panthers have averaged 1.5 sacks in their two losses – they’ve doubled that number in their five wins.
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