The Bucs will be in Charlotte on Sunday afternoon, opening up December against the Panthers with hopes of sweeping their two-game road trip and getting back to .500.

After a win over the Giants in Week 12, the Bucs find themselves within striking distance in the NFC South race. Their schedule down the stretch is easier than the Falcons’, so hopes of a division title four-peat certainly aren’t dead yet. Tampa Bay just has to do its part and take care of business while hoping it can get some help elsewhere throughout the final month of the 2024 calendar year.

This will be the first of two December meetings between the Bucs and Panthers, as they open and close the month against each other. After this matchup at Bank of America Stadium, the two teams will square off again at Raymond James Stadium on Dec. 29. It’ll also be the first head-to-head meeting between Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles and Carolina head coach Dave Canales, who of course was Bowles’ offensive coordinator in 2023.

The Last Time…

Bucs S Antoine Winfield Jr. and Panthers WR D.J. Chark – Photo by: USA Today

The Bucs last met the Panthers on the final day of the 2023 regular season. Needing a win to clinch the NFC South after slipping up at home in Week 17, Tampa Bay had to battle its way to an ugly 9-0 win over Carolina in Charlotte. Chase McLaughlin made field goals from 36, 57 and 39 yards out and the defense earned the franchise’s first shutout since November 2010, completing the division title three-peat.

Perhaps the biggest play of the game came in the second quarter, as DJ Chark raced for what looked like a 43-yard Panthers touchdown only for Antoine Winfield Jr. to chase him down and knock the ball loose before Chark crossed the goal line. It was the second such play that Winfield had made during the season, and it was the sixth forced fumble of his All-Pro campaign.

The Buccaneer offense was stagnant in that game, with Baker Mayfield going 20-of-32 for just 137 yards while Mike Evans was held to three catches on eight targets for 22 yards. Rachaad White did run for 75 yards and helped salt away the game at the end, but it was the three sacks and two forced fumbles from Todd Bowles’ defense that led the way to a division-clinching win.

The Panthers have a 25-22 lead in the all-time series with the Bucs, though Tampa Bay has won three straight and seven of the last eight against Carolina.

How The Bucs And Panthers Are Trending

Bucs RB Bucky Irving – Photo by: USA Today

The Bucs finally got back in the win column in Week 12, coming out of the bye to beat the Giants 30-7. They are in the midst of a three-game stretch against teams currently slated to pick in the top five of the 2025 Draft, and it’s a stretch they badly need to take advantage of as they try to position themselves for another late-season run at the NFC South crown.

Tampa Bay is currently one game behind division-leading Atlanta, but Atlanta has the tiebreaker to essentially make it a two-game deficit. But winning back-to-back games for the first time since Weeks 1 and 2 would help the Bucs keep the pressure on the Falcons.

Offensively, Baker Mayfield and Co. continued to put up points in their return from the bye. It certainly helped to have Mike Evans back, though it was rookie running back Bucky Irving who led the way against New York. Mayfield is having another career year in 2024, as he has thrown for 2,799 yards and 24 touchdowns to just nine interceptions thus far. He also has three rushing scores to make it 27 total touchdowns on the year. With Evans back, Cade Otton emerging and the run game clicking, Tampa Bay will be looking to its offense to lead the charge toward the playoffs.

That Week 12 win was a much-needed performance from the Buccaneer defense, too, though it came against the NFL’s worst offense. Still, Tampa Bay will see another bottom-five scoring offense this week and both having Jamel Dean back adding Mike Edwards back into the mix could prove to be significant over these final six weeks. Jordan Whitehead’s injury is a blow, but Edwards’ return does soften it to an extent. Vita Vea and Calijah Kancey getting after the quarterback the way they have been is also huge.

Carolina’s once-lifeless season has looked a little better in recent weeks. Dave Canales’ team is still 3-8, but they won back-to-back games in Weeks 9 and 10, had Week 11 off and then gave the 10-1 Chiefs all they could handle this past Sunday. And what’s even more promising for the Panthers is that since returning from his early-season benching, 2023 No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young has started to show some more flashes than he had during his rookie year.

Panthers head coach Dave Canales – Photo by: USA Today

A big reason the Panthers hired Canales away from the Bucs in the offseason was his ability to work with quarterbacks. After having a hand in career revivals for Geno Smith in Seattle and Baker Mayfield in Tampa, Carolina wanted him to work with Young. The 2021 Heisman Trophy winner at Alabama struggled last year and early this year, but he has completed 60.4% of his passes and thrown for 560 yards and three touchdowns to zero interceptions over the last three games, which have seen the Panthers go 2-1.

What has helped the inconsistent Carolina offense has been the performance of Chuba Hubbard, who has 876 yards and seven touchdowns while averaging 4.9 yards per carry this season.

On defense, the Panthers have been bad. The Giants – who have the league’s worst offense – are the only team that hasn’t scored more than 20 points in a game against the Panthers this season. Carolina has allowed 25+ points in nine of its 11 games this season, and its inability to get after the quarterback has been a big reason why. That makes it even more curious that there have been three different times this season when the team has cut its leading sacker, with the latest being Charles Harris.

Here’s how the Bucs and Panthers stack up heading into Week 13:

Bucs Offense: 4th in scoring offense (28.1 PPG), 7th in total offense (369.5 yards per game), 7th in passing offense (241.5 yards per game), 10th in rushing offense (128.1 yards per game)

Panthers Offense: 29th in scoring offense (17.6 PPG), 31st in total offense (285.5 yards per game), 31st in passing offense (177.8 yards per game), 24th in rushing offense (107.7 yards per game)

Bucs Defense: 24th in scoring defense (24.8 points allowed per game), 29th in total defense (376.2 yards allowed per game), 29th in passing defense (255.5 yards allowed per game), 16th in rushing defense (120.7 yards allowed per game)

Panthers Defense: 32nd in scoring defense (30.9 points allowed per game), 30th in total defense (387.3 yards allowed per game), 24th in passing defense (226.7 yards allowed per game), 32nd in rushing defense (160.5 yards allowed per game)

As of Wednesday, the Bucs were 6-point favorites with the Over/Under set at 45.5 (per BetUS).

What Might Decide This Bucs-Panthers Matchup?

Bucs head coach Todd Bowles and OC Liam Coen – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Getting off to another red-hot start would be a big help for the Bucs as they look to handle business against a less-talented team for the second straight week. In the 30-7 win over New York on Sunday, Tampa Bay took a 23-0 lead in the first half and never looked at risk of giving it up. With the Panthers playing better football in recent weeks, letting them hang around until late in the game could make for some nervous moments. Another strong start for the Bucs could take the wind out of the Panthers’ sails early.

Complementary football is what the Bucs did so well in Week 12, as the offense went on a 14-play, eight-minute touchdown drive to open the game before the defense got off the field quickly on its first series. Replicating that on Sunday in Charlotte would set the tone right. Another opening-drive touchdown – which would be Tampa Bay’s sixth of the season – could go a long way as the defense looks to put Bryce Young and the Carolina offense in a hole. Clean pockets for Baker Mayfield, early involvement for Mike Evans and open run lanes for Bucky Irving and Rachaad White would make for a reliable recipe for Liam Coen against his predecessor’s new team.

Getting an early lead and building on it will allow the Bucs to do two main things that will make life difficult for the Panthers. For one, it allows Coen to stay committed to his run game, which has been driving the offense in recent weeks. It could mean more Pony package, and Irving could be in position for his first career 100-yard game against Carolina’s dead-last run defense.

Bucs FS Antoine Winfield Jr. and Panthers QB Bryce Young – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

On the other side of the ball, getting a lead will allow Todd Bowles to dial up some pressures on Young, which could fluster the second-year quarterback and pressure him into making some mistakes. Tampa Bay has been getting plenty of pressure up the middle from Vita Vea (six sacks) and Calijah Kancey (five), but Bowles being able to blitz with his linebackers and safeties would add another element for Dave Canales‘ offense to deal with. Taking Chuba Hubbard out of the game is another bonus if Bowles and Co. get a big enough lead.

Speaking of Hubbard, he’ll need a big game to take some of the weight off Young’s shoulders. Hubbard has scored in each of the last three games and has reached the end zone a total of four times in that span. It was his biggest game of the season that led to the Panthers’ biggest point output of the season back in Week 3, as they scored 36 points and Hubbard ran for 114 yards and added 55 receiving yards and a touchdown. It may take another game like that for the Panthers to outdo the Bucs offense in this one.

Canales will also need to go deep into his bag and draw from the experience he gained against Bowles’ defense on the AdventHealth Training Center practice fields last year. Making life easier for his quarterback should be priority No. 1, and that means finding easy throws for him against Tampa Bay’s 29th-ranked pass defense. Those throws are most likely to be found over the middle of the field, of course.

The Panthers defense can’t allow the Bucs to run wild on them, though that’s going to be a challenge. Not only is Tampa Bay’s run game humming and averaging 128.1 yards per game, but the Carolina defense is allowing north of 160 yards per game on the ground this year. A couple of takeaways may be the best shot the home team has at hanging tough in this game.

Key Players To Watch

Bucs DT Calijah Kancey and Panthers QB Bryce Young – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Bucky Irving has become the most exciting player to watch on Tampa Bay’s offense. He leads the team in rushing with 579 yards, boasting a 5.4-yard average and a catalog of highlight-worthy plays. His change of direction and tackle-breaking ability was on full display against the Giants in Week 12, and he’ll be looking for a repeat performance against the NFL’s worst run defense. He is also coming off a game in which he posted a career-high 64 receiving yards, which will only help his case to earn more snaps.

Calijah Kancey has been on an absolute tear since returning from his calf injury. He has a sack in three straight games and has totaled four over that span. That gives him five on the year, which is already a new career high with six games to go. With the pace he’s on, he may very well be chasing the double-digit sack mark in just the second year of his young career.

Offensively, the Panthers have to rely on Chuba Hubbard. Tampa Bay’s defense is right in the middle of the pack in terms of stopping the run this year, which is down from where it usually is. Hubbard is two weeks removed from a 153-yard game in Germany, and he has three 100-yard rushing performances on the year (with two more games in the 90s). Crossing over that 100-yard mark and scoring a couple of times could spark the Panthers to an upset win.

Panthers EDGE Jadeveon Clowney Photo by: USA Today

Jadeveon Clowney is coming off his highest-graded performance of the season last Sunday against Kansas City. He had seven total pressures and tallied 1.5 sacks, giving him 2.5 on the year. His 27 total pressures on the season leads the Panthers, who haven’t had a lot of success getting after the quarterback this year. The next-closest to him in terms of pressures is A’Shawn Robinson, who has 17. Clowney will need to build on his performance against the Chiefs and get after Baker Mayfield with regularity on Sunday to keep the Bucs offense off-schedule.

Bucs at Panthers Game Information

When: Sunday, December 1
Where: Bank of America Stadium (Charlotte, NC)
Kickoff: 4:05 p.m. ET
TV: FOX – Chris Myers (Play by Play), Mark Schlereth (Analyst), Jen Hale (Reporter)
Bucs Radio: 98Rock – Gene Deckerhoff (Play by Play), Dave Moore (Color), T.J. Rives (Reporter)
Spanish Radio: 96.1 Caliente – Carlos Bohorquez (Play by Play), Martín Gramática (Analyst), Santiago Gramática (Reporter)