Panthers vs. Buccaneers: Defensive Preview

Happy Black Friday, Panthers fans! I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving! We are once again preparing for GameDay, which the Panthers will welcome Swindler Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to Charlotte followed with a 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 win over the New York Giants in which they rushed for four touchdowns. Let’s look at how the defense can avoid a similar fate this week.

Focus on the running backs

Over the course of the season, the Bucs dealt with several injuries to key wide receiver players. Their answer to this problem was to focus on their running backs, both as rushers and pass catchers. Bucky Irving rushed for 580 yards and 5 touchdowns on 108 carries and added 252 receiving yards on 32 catches. Rachaad White added 343 yards and 2 TDS on the ground and 301 yards with 4 TDs as a receiver. This means that regardless of the game script, the Panthers will see a heavy dose of both of these players this weekend, and the rushing attack is still by far the defense’s biggest weakness. You have to plan well and tackle well to avoid another defeat due to the opposing team’s running game.

Jaycee Horn recovers from the game

While Jaycee was easily one of the best defenders on the team, he took several major penalties against DeAndre Hopkins last week that allowed the Chiefs to continue their attacks. This week he’ll be drafting Mike Evans, notorious for eating the Panthers’ secondary alive. One saving grace is that Chris Godwin won’t be playing him this time, so Jaycee can theoretically focus on stopping Evans.

Keep Baker in your pocket

At this point, I can mention the Panthers’ pass rush until I’m blue in the face, but that doesn’t change the fact that the unit as a whole isn’t going to magically become a top unit. However, I think we saw last week how this defense can attack the QB in its own way, and that’s by keeping a mobile QB in the pocket and maintaining gap/lane integrity. Last Sunday, the Panthers managed to sack Patrick Mahomes five times, and it wasn’t because they were suddenly blowing up opposing offensive players on every play. DJ Wonnum was a great addition to this defense and his partnership with Jadeveon Clowney shows performance, but the main reason they managed those sacks was to keep Mahomes in check and contain him so the defense could pounce on him when he stepped up in his pocket or started to hurry up to buy time. Baker Mayfield will try to fight through and play out of structure, Ejiro Evero will have to follow the same formula he used last week. The back-end coverage also has to continue to do its job.

What are you looking for this week, Panthers fans?