By David Rogers. CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A more diverse offensive attack that spread the ball around to several previously “hidden” playmakers might well be just what the pro football doctor ordered for the Carolina Panthers. In spite of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ future Hall of Fame QB Tom Brady passing for 290 yards (32-of-49) with no interceptions, the Carolina defense bent but did not break as the Panthers won, 21-3.
It has been a tumultuous past couple of weeks for the Panthers. First the firing of head coach Matt Ruhle after a 1-4 start to his third season at the helm, then there was the dispatch of fleet wide receiver Robbie Anderson to the Arizona Cardinals after some sideline discord involving his position coach. The final stunner was the Oct. 20 announcement of the team’s trading star running back Christian McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for a boatload of future draft picks. That transaction had fans, talking heads, and newspaper pundits thinking the organization had already given up on the 2022 season. Surely, the Panthers were in rebuilding mode, some even saying out loud that the organization was “tanking” to possibly secure a top first round draft pick in 2023.
Someone forgot to tell the Panther players and coaches that they were supposed to lose from here on out with their fourth quarterback, an “interim” head coach, a wide receiver corps with only one big name, and a depleted running back room.
In defeating the Buccaneers, Carolina’s D’Onta Foreman rushed for 118 yards on 15 carries while collecting a couple of pass receptions for another 27 yards for a total of 145 scrimmage yards on the day. Oklahoma State alum Chuba Hubbard, now in his second year in the NFL after being drafted by the Panthers in 2021, added another 73 scrimmage yards (63 rushing). The duo helped Carolina to 343 yards of total offense on the day. For his part, Foreman has a good start on replicating what he did for the Tennessee Titans last year in “filling in” for an injured Derrick Henry. Now he is replacing another star running back gone bye-bye, McCaffrey.
Quarterback P J Walker — the former undrafted free agent out of Temple signed by the Indianapolis Colts in 2017, and who later starred with the Houston Roughnecks of the upstart XFL league in 2020 — completed 16 of 22 passes for two TDs and no interceptions.
In a game with few penalties, no turnovers by either team, and nearly dead even in time of possession, the point differential is somewhat surprising. It is perhaps best explained by saying that Carolina capitalized on its opportunities and Tampa Bay didn’t — thanks largely to the Panthers’ punishing defensive efforts.
Although Brady and the Bucs rolled up a lot of yards through the air without scoring, the Panthers were efficient. Tampa Bay’s Mike Evans caught nine passes for 96 yards, one of four Buccaneers with at least 39 receiving yards, but nothing to show for it. Meanwhile, Carolina’s D J Moore caught 7 passes for 69 yards and a TD. Young tight end Tommy Tremble only caught one pass for 29 yards, but it was for a TD. And promising wide receiver Terrace Marshall, Jr. brought his season alive with two catches for 31 yards.
After giving interim head coach Steve Wilks, who played defensive back for App State from 1987 to 1991, his first win of the season, the Panthers head to Atlanta next week to play the Falcons in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
