It got ugly quickly as the Panthers jumped out to a 35-7 lead in the first half, then as usual, the Buccaneers were able to make a game of it before fading down the stretch. Once again the defense failed to record a takeaway, and committed two on offense in Tampa Bay’s 42-28 loss that drops the Bucs to 3-5 on the season and 1-2 in the NFC South.

Here is PewterReport.com’s Most Disappointing Buccaneers from Sunday’s loss.

WR Mike Evans
Evans had a chance to make a statement on the first play of the game but dropped a long pass along the sideline. Tampa Bay wound up going three-and-out and so began an awful afternoon. Evans also had a drop in the second half on third down that would have moved the sticks. That set up a fourth down where the Bucs attempted a fake punt that was unsuccessful and the Panthers took over deep in Tampa Bay territory and added another score. Evans didn’t catch a pass in his first six targets and finished the day with just one reception for 16 yards as he was blanketed all day by Panthers third-year cornerback James Bradberry.

Bucs Offensive Line
Tampa Bay’s offensive line was overwhelmed at times by the Panthers’ pass rush, giving up three sacks, and 11 pressures and hits on Ryan Fitzpatrick. The offensive line also failed to establish any semblance of a running game once again. This line is making way too much money to be this bad. But is it the players, or coaching? Over the last few years the offensive line has struggled, some years worse than others, but has never been a team strength. And that all points to coaching. George Warhop has a room full of maulers yet he wants technicians. As good as Tampa Bay’s offense can be, it all starts up front, and on Sunday, it was far from good enough.

LT Donovan Smith
Smith has held his own against some of the best pass rushers in the league this season, but had some serious struggles on Sunday. Panthers defensive end Mario Addison had three sacks against the Bucs lining up against Smith, including a sack-fumble. Smith hopes to soon get paid like a top-tier left tackle in the league, but his game film on Sunday won’t help his case.

Bucs CB Carlton Davis – Photo by: Mary Holt/PR

CB Carlton Davis
Growing pains. You’re going to have them when you put a rookie cornerback on an island. And Davis had a pretty painful afternoon on Sunday at Carolina. Head coach Dirk Koetter mentioned him in his post-game press conference, noting he, like most of the defense, struggled at times tacking the Panthers. While he had a nice tackle short of the gain in the second half on fourth down, he was also called for taunting after the play, costing the Buccaneers 15 yards. He will be better, but in the meantime there will be a few more bumps on the road.

Bucs Defensive Line
The return of Gerald McCoy from a calf injury and Vinny Curry from an ankle injury was supposed to be a boost to the Bucs defense, yet it was anything but. By halftime, only Carl Nassib (one tackle) and Vinny Curry (an assist) showed up on the stat sheet. The line played better in the second half – somewhat – notching two sacks. But overall what was supposed to be a strength of this team, hurt them on Sunday. Curry, Jason Pierre-Paul and Beau Allen each only had one assist apiece. Vita Vea and Will Gholston? Zero. Nowhere to be found on the stat sheet. Nassib was the only one on the defensive line that you could even say had an average game.