Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20
Carolina Panthers 14
Okay, I can admit that I was wrong on this one.
It seemed to me that the Panthers were the better team. And with home field advantage, and a painful loss that seemed like it would add further incentive, the Panthers seemed to me – mistakenly, apparently – to be a fairly sure bet.
Jameis Winston completed 16 of 25 passes for 208 yards and one touchdown, while Peyton Barber rushed for 82 yards and one touchdown on 23 carries.
The Bucs managed to play extremely well, particularly on defense, frustrating a struggling Panthers offense consistently all game long. Cam Newton was more or less held in check by a Bucs defense that bent but did not break. Newton’s statistics showed that he completed 25 of 51 passes for 333 yards. But he was unable to throw any touchdowns, and the Panthers offense kept having to settle for field goals.
Cam Newton and the Panthers are, again, really in a bad way right now. This team has lost eight games in a row when Newton has started, which is perplexing and almost shocking, given how he has been a consistently elite player for many years now. He took responsibility for the lack of offensive production last night, saying that all fingers point at him, and taking ownership for Carolina’s offensive woes.
Be that as it may, Carolina now finds itself in a startling position, having fallen to 0-2, and in sole possession of last place in the NFC South for the time being.
Meanwhile, the surprising Bucs earned their first win of the season, on the road against a usually tough divisional opponent. Tampa Bay will host the Giants on the 22nd, while the Panthers will next go to Arizona to take on the Cardinals on that date.
Prediction: Inaccurate
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