Turn Yards Into Points
The Bucs’ defense isn’t great, it is certainly not as good as the Seahawks’ defense that the Panthers put 476 yards on last week, but what the Panthers failed to do against the Seahawks, and what they can’t afford to do again against Tampa Bay, is fail to turn those yards into points. The Panthers struggles in the red zone against the Seahawks have been well documented, and not having Devin Funchess isn’t completely irrelevant to this discussion; but they have to do a better job against a Bucs team that will almost certainly put up some points but will allow teams to score on them in turn.
Some of this comes down to play calling, as having moved the ball effectively with zone runs and quick passes down the field, they had a tendency to revert to a power running game in the red zone, something they don’t really have the personnel for with CJ Anderson no longer on the roster. There is no quick fix to the Panthers’ issues in the red zone against the Seahawks, but the Panthers need to figure ways to put the ball in the end zone without having to fall back on trying to batter the opponent backwards. While Moore and Samuel might not be as effective on fades as the likes of scrimmage, they have shown that they are able to separate on quick passes in the red zone – this might be something the Panthers could move their focus towards. The Panthers need to show that last week’s red zone struggles were an aberration and not the start of a “new normal”.
The Panthers have the talent to put a lot of points on the Buccaneers, and if they struggle to move the ball this Sunday, that will likely speak to a lack of preparation than anything else, but they can’t afford to waste early red zone trips again this weekend as this is a Bucs team whose talent is very much slanted towards the offense.
Situational Management
Other than the blowout loss to the Steelers, the Panthers have been in every game this season right to the end – a lot of the reason why they are 6-5 rather than 10-1 is due to a lack of situational management. This comes in the form of play calling, decisions of when to punt, when to kick field goals and when to go for it – and in terms of how they look to use timeouts towards the end of the halves; this came to a head in how they managed to lose the game in regulation against the Seahawks, despite having the ball on the opponents’ side of the field inside of the two minute warning. The game against the Bucs might not be one decided by such decisions, but if it is, the Panthers need to show they are able to close out games they are ahead in and pull back deficits without having to resort to desperate measures.
Some teams win games they should lose and some teams lose games they should win; the Panthers have been in the latter category for most of this season, and if they are unable to change that, they are likely to be watching the playoffs from home come January. If the Buccaneers go out there on Sunday and play a near-perfect game to beat a division rival at home, the Panthers will just have to live with that, but if the Panthers continue to fall short when it matters, it is going to be hard to continue to find excuses.
This is a game the Panthers should win, but so was last week and so was the week before. This preview might not go into scheme details as much as in some other weeks – while these are still going to be important, the Panthers issues have been as much about when as what, and while they might have some struggles containing Chris Godwin or Adam Humphries in the slot, there are very few – if any – areas where the Bucs have the matchup advantage.
All the Panthers need to do now is go out there and actually win.
