The Panthers host the Buccaneers this week in part one of their divisional matchups for 2024.
Happy Black Friday, Panthers fans! I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving! We’re gearing up for GameDay once again, as the Panthers will welcome Faker Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to Charlotte following as gutsy performance against the Chiefs where the defense showed some signs of life late in the game. The Bucs, meanwhile, are coming off a thorough destruction of the New York Giants where they rushed for 4 TDs. Let’s dive into how the defense can avoid a similar fate this week.
Focus on the running backs
Throughout the season, the Bucs have dealt with several injuries to key players at wide receiver. Their response to this problem was to focus on their runningbacks, both as rushers and as pass catchers. Bucky Irving has rushed for 580 yards and 5 TDs on 108 carries while adding an additional 252 yards receiving on 32 catches. Rachaad White adds 343 yards and 2 TDS on the ground and 301 yards with 4 TDs as a receiver. What this means is the Panthers should see a heavy dose of those two this weekend regardless of the game script, and the rushing attack is still by far the defense’s greatest weakness. They’ll need ton scheme appropriately and tackle well in order to avoid yet another drubbing by the opposing team’s run game.
Jaycee Horn bounce back game
While Jaycee has easily been one of the best defenders on the team, last week he was called for multiple major penalties against DeAndre Hopkins that allowed the Chiefs’ drives to continue. This week, he will draw Mike Evans, who is notorious for eating the Panthers secondary alive. One saving grace is this time he will not have Chris Godwin playing opposite of him, so in theory Jaycee should be able to focus on stopping Evans.
Keep Baker in the pocket
At this point, I can mention the Panthers pass rush until I’m blue in the face, but its not going to change the fact that the unit as a whole isn’t going to magically become a top unit. However, I think we saw how this defense can get after the QB in its own way last week, and that’s by keeping a mobile QB in the pocket and maintaining gap/lane integrity. The Panthers managed to sack Patrick Mahomes 5 times last Sunday, and it wasn’t because they were all of a sudden blowing up opposing offensive linemen every play. DJ Wonnum has been a great addition to this defense and his pairing with Jadeveon Clowney is showing production, but the biggest reason why they managed those sacks was keeping Mahomes in the pocket and contained, allowing the defense to crash down on him when he stepped up in the pocket or started to scramble to buy time. Baker Mayfield will try to scramble and create plays out of structure, Ejiro Evero needs to follow the same formula he did last week. The back end coverage will need to continue doing their jobs as well.
What are you looking for this week, Panthers fans?