The Carolina Panthers sit alone atop the NFC South. On Sunday, they’ll take on a division rival and old friend in an attempt to widen the gap in the standings.
Coming off another impressive win, this time over the Philadelphia Eagles, the Panthers head into Week 8 at 3-2, good enough for first place in the NFC South. On Sunday, Carolina hosts the 1-4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers in hopes of tightening its grip on the division.
This is another matchup that on paper has the Panthers expected to win convincingly. If Bryce Young and Chuba Hubbard simply continue the extraordinary offensive display they have all season, that very well could be the case. However, Carolina’s matchup with the Bucs on Sunday has an added factor a lot of people are already overlooking.
Tampa Bay is expected to get quarterback Baker Mayfield back from injury and start the veteran under center. Mayfield had a short stint in Carolina in 2022, but despite his time as a Panther, fans in Uptown aren’t too fond of him. On a couple of occasions, the Oklahoma standout has shrugged off questions about his time in Carolina and seems to like to pretend that time in his career never even existed. When asked about the rise of the Panthers franchise a season ago, Mayfield did not compliment Carolina’s success nor gave props to Dave Canales who has obviously helped turn the organization around.
Simply based on emotions and circumstances, there could be a little extra motivation for Mayfield to come back strong and some motivation for the Panthers defense to try to get some extra pressure on him. This is something to watch for throughout the game and how emotions are managed. We can’t rule out a physical, scrappy game with some 15-yard penalties.
Mayfield will have to put together a solid performance without one of his key receivers, Emeka Egbuka, who is out with a concussion. However, the Panthers’ defense takes yet another blow with Jaelan Phillips ruled out with a hamstring injury he re-aggravated last week in Philly.
The key to this game will be if Tampa Bay can slow down Young and this Panthers’ offense that has proven can be absolutely electric. Dave Canales certainly does not want to look past this game but being practical is a big part of decision making. With the fact Carolina has a short week and will be traveling to Green Bay for Thursday Night Football, we can expect to see even more dropbacks for Young who still leads the entire NFL in passing yards per game. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Young have a season high in pass attempts as part of a tactic to save Hubbard’s workload.
Much like last week, Carolina has a chance to show they are a true playoff caliber team just by simply by winning a game it’s supposed to win. Matchups like this in recent years have not been kind to the Panthers so the ability to just display consistency can go a long way in showing who this team really is and what potential they can reach.
