There is an old saying in sports that good teams find a way to win even when they’re not playing their best ball. If ever there was a game in which that saying rung true, it was Sunday’s 22-19 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Bank of America Stadium that secured the Panthers a playoff berth and pushed them to 11-4. The Panthers were able to fight through distractions, injuries and suspension to get a win over a bitter division rival when they weren’t getting the job done particularly well on either side of the ball.
With Damiere Byrd injuring his knee (Ron Rivera said after the game that he “tweaked something on the outside”) on the opening kickoff of the second half, the Panthers turned to an old stalwart, veteran Brenton Bersin, for 77% of the snaps as Devin Funchess fought through a nagging shoulder injury to play 88%. Bersin responded by leading the team in receiving yards with 47 and making a key catch on what would prove to be the game-winning drive. After going away from the running game (they had only 115 yards on the ground after averaging over 180 the past five weeks) for much of the game, Jonathan Stewart, Ed Dickson and Chris Manhertz saw fewer snaps than usual.
With Thomas Davis suspended for his helmet-to-helmet block on GB wide receiver Davante Adams, Shaq Thompson played 100% of the snaps; the front seven played well but was let down by the secondary as the Panthers limited the Bucs to only 66 yards rushing and sacked Jameis Winston six times, all while allowing 367 yards through the air and multiple big plays, including a 70-yard catch-and-run that featured multiple missed tackles in the defensive backfield. For all of the David Mayo talk, it was again Colin Jones who was on the field for 42% of the snaps; Mayo only saw 11 snaps in place of Thomas Davis, although the special teams ace was on the field for 23 special teams plays, by far the most of any Panthers player.
The following table is sortable, so check it out and form your own conclusions about how the Panthers divied up the playing time in yesterday’s win over the Bucs.
| Player | Position | Offensive Snaps | Percentage | Defensive Snaps | Percentage | Special Teams | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M Kalil | T | 66 | 100% | 5 | 18% | ||
| A Norwell | G | 66 | 100% | 5 | 18% | ||
| D Williams | T | 66 | 100% | 5 | 18% | ||
| A Silatolu | T | 66 | 100% | 5 | 18% | ||
| R Kalil | C | 66 | 100% | ||||
| C Newton | QB | 65 | 98% | ||||
| G Olsen | TE | 62 | 94% | 1 | 4% | ||
| D Funchess | WR | 58 | 88% | 1 | 4% | ||
| C McCaffrey | RB | 53 | 80% | 1 | 4% | ||
| B Bersin | WR | 51 | 77% | 12 | 43% | ||
| J Stewart | RB | 25 | 38% | ||||
| E Dickson | TE | 22 | 33% | 15 | 54% | ||
| D Byrd | WR | 20 | 30% | 4 | 14% | ||
| K Clay | WR | 18 | 27% | 1 | 4% | ||
| C Manhertz | TE | 7 | 11% | 10 | 36% | ||
| F Whittaker | RB | 5 | 8% | 17 | 61% | ||
| M Frazier | WR | 4 | 6% | 4 | 14% | ||
| T Moton | T | 3 | 5% | 5 | 18% | ||
| T Larsen | G | 1 | 2% | 4 | 14% | ||
| D Anderson | QB | 1 | 2% | ||||
| L Kuechly | LB | 67 | 100% | 7 | 25% | ||
| S Thompson | LB | 67 | 100% | 7 | 25% | ||
| D Worley | CB | 67 | 100% | 7 | 25% | ||
| J Bradberry | CB | 67 | 100% | 5 | 18% | ||
| K Coleman | FS | 67 | 100% | 5 | 18% | ||
| M Adams | SS | 62 | 93% | 6 | 21% | ||
| M Addison | DE | 46 | 69% | 1 | 4% | ||
| K Short | DT | 44 | 66% | 6 | 21% | ||
| S Lotulelei | DT | 41 | 61% | 6 | 21% | ||
| J Peppers | DE | 40 | 60% | 5 | 18% | ||
| C Jones | FS | 28 | 42% | 6 | 21% | ||
| W Horton | DE | 28 | 42% | ||||
| K Love | DT | 26 | 39% | ||||
| C Munnerlyn | CB | 26 | 39% | ||||
| V Butler | DT | 23 | 34% | 6 | 21% | ||
| B Cox | DE | 20 | 30% | 10 | 36% | ||
| D Mayo | LB | 11 | 16% | 23 | 82% | ||
| J Byrd | FS | 5 | 7% | 7 | 25% | ||
| K Seymour | CB | 2 | 3% | 13 | 46% | ||
| B Jacobs | LB | 17 | 61% | ||||
| A Gachkar | LB | 17 | 61% | ||||
| C Artis-Payne | RB | 16 | 57% | ||||
| S Paysinger | LB | 14 | 50% | ||||
| G Gano | K | 11 | 39% | ||||
| J Jansen | LS | 9 | 32% | ||||
| M Palardy | P | 9 | 32% |
