FAB 2. Bucs Entering The Great Unknown With Panthers Prep

Todd Bowles will undoubtedly have some new wrinkles to his scheme in 2020, but opponents know what to expect from his Bucs’ 3-4 defense that features a healthy dose of blitzing and man coverage.

Bruce Arians and Byron Leftwich will have a new look with Tom Brady under center, but opponents know what to expect from their vertical-based offense that often attacks the middle of the field with the slot receiver and the tight end.

Panthers HC Matt Rhule and QB Teddy Bridgewater – Photo by: Getty Images

But what about the new look Panthers?

New head coach Matt Rhule has brought defensive coordinator Phil Snow with him from Baylor to Carolina, and hired Joe Brady away from LSU to be the offensive coordinator. With COVID-19 wiping out the preseason, the Bucs have just one Panthers game film – last week’s 34-30 loss at home to Las Vegas – to study. In order to prepare for the Panthers, the Bucs had to dig into some college film to prep for Sunday’s opponent.

“We studied a bunch of Baylor film, Temple film on their defense,” Arians said. “We have the Raiders game offensively – a lot of LSU stuff and the one game. Most of that preparation was done once the schedule came out. You can start working on all that college stuff and a lot of it showed up in this ballgame against the Raiders.”

Snow has been Rhule’s defensive coordinator since their days together in Temple in 2013-16, and then again at Baylor from 2017-2019. Snow runs a mix of a 4-3 defense with some 3-3-5 mixed in.

Carolina’s defense has undergone a drastic youth movement with four rookie starters in defensive tackle Derrick Brown, the team’s first-round pick, defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos, the Panthers’ second-round pick, safety Jeremy Chinn, who was this year’s third-round pick and cornerback Troy Pride, Jr., who was drafted in the fourth round. Chinn plays both outside linebacker and safety for the Panthers.

Panthers CB Donte Jackson – Photo by: Mary Holt/PR

Meanwhile Pro Bowl middle linebacker Luke Kuechly abruptly retired due to concussions, top cornerback James Bradberry left via free agency, and the team moved on from several defensive linemen, including ends Mario Addison and Bruce Irvin, and tackles Dontari Poe, Vernon Butler and Gerald McCoy, as well as safety Eric Reed. Carolina’s defense is led by linebacker Shaq Thompson and second-year players like cornerback Donte Jackson and defensive end Brian Burns, and is young and largely unproven except for a few positions. It’s no surprise the unit gave up 34 points last Sunday to Las Vegas.

“Matty came out to Arizona and visited with us some and looked at some of our defensive stuff,” said Buce head coach Bruce Arians. Phil Snow, I think, is one the best defensive coaches – college or pro. Matt’s done a great job wherever he’s been. High-energy guy – really bright. I have a ton of respect for him and the job he did at Baylor and Temple was outstanding.”

As for Brady, he was an offensive assistant under Sean Payton in New Orleans in 2018 and brought a wide-open Saints-style attack to Baton Rouge last year, helping Joe Burrow win the Heisman Trophy and the LSU Tigers win the National Championship after an undefeated season. Brady’s offense averaged 568.9 yards per game and LSU averaged 48.4 points per game, as Burrow passed for 5,671 yards with 60 touchdowns and just six interceptions, while running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire rushed for an SEC-high 1,414 yards and 16 touchdowns, along with 453 yards and one touchdown on 55 catches.

Former LSU QB Joe Burrow – Photo by: Getty Images

Brady doesn’t have Burrow, but he does have Teddy Bridgewater under center. Bridgewater isn’t the dynamic play-maker that Burrow is, but he doesn’t make risky throws, gets rid of the ball quickly, and has a relationship with Brady that dates back to their time together in New Orleans in 2018.

“Sickening,” said Bowles, regarding studying the Panthers’ virtually unknown attack. “You watch college film and then you try and put it in the pro game, but you don’t know what they’re thinking or what they’re trying do so, so you just try to cover all your bases and make sure that you’re aware for everything to come up. Read your keys and play ball.

“When you’re in a pandemic, obviously you’re home for a while – you get to watch a lot of tape. Some of that can be good and some of that can be bad. Your mind starts to wander a little bit [and] you try to keep it all in perspective. That part was sickening – I was really joking when I said it. You try and do your homework as best you can and not over-stimulate the guys’ brains – keep football as football, and try to stop what we need to stop.”

Bucs inside linebacker Kevin Minter said the defense will have to focus more on what Tampa Bay wants to do rather than guess what Carolina will try to do.

“We just have to look at what they did in Week 1 and go from there and play ball,” Minter said. “At the end of the day you play your assignment and execute. It should be a good game.

“In situations like this you kind of have to pull film from everywhere. Not just LSU, but you have to look at the Saints, and some of his Baylor film with him being the head coach at Baylor. We’ll see how it goes because it’s a guessing game. Each team has their own identity and this [Panthers] team does, too. You can’t get that from watching other teams’ film. It’s going to be a bit of a crapshoot, so it will be on us to just play our technique and see what we see and playing fast on both sides of the ball.”

Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey – Photo by: Roger McQueen/PR

Arians said he wasn’t surprised to see the Panthers offense coming out firing, putting 30 points on the board last week with McCaffrey rushing for 97 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries (4.2 avg.) and catching three passes for 38 yards. Robby Anderson led the way through the air with six catches for 114 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown pass from Bridgewater, who was 22-of-34 (64.7 percent) for 269 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions in his Carolina debut.

“The coach and the quarterback have history in the same offense, so it’s not like they’re starting from scratch,” Arians said. “That’s an easy one. Teddy is a very, very bright guy and has very few turnovers in his history. That part of it didn’t surprise me at all. McCaffrey never surprises me because if he gets a crack, he’s going. It all starts with him. I thought they did a good job of feeding him and Teddy played really well for them.”