Game Overview ::
By papy324 >>
- The Panthers have the worst record in the league and just fired their head coach. They replaced him with Chris Tabor, who has never held a position in the NFL above special-teams coordinator.
- Bryce Young has the look of an NFL bust. The Panthers traded two first-round picks and DJ Moore for him, which will likely keep them bad for a long time.
- Jonathan Mingo has played over 90% of the snaps in every game since the Panthers’ bye week. It hasn’t paid off in the box scores yet, but he is the type of player who can post a 30-point game out of nowhere.
- Chuba Hubbard has become the Panthers’ lead back after they gave Miles Sanders a big offseason deal. Hubbard has played more snaps than Sanders every game since the Panthers’ bye, but Sanders still plays enough to cap Hubbard’s ceiling.
- The Buccaneers have been a pass-leaning team this year out of necessity, not choice.
- There is a good chance Rachaad White sees the most rushing attempts he had this season.
- Mike Evans is functioning as the alpha pass catcher of this offense, while Chris Godwin has become a possession receiver.
How CAROLINA Will Try To Win ::
The 1-10 Panthers hobble into Week 13 with the worst record in football. The Panthers are so bad David Tepper decided to let Frank Reich go after less than a full season as head coach. To make matters worse, the Panthers traded two first-round picks (one of which might end up being 1st overall) and Moore to the Bears for the right to draft Young – a move Reich may or may not have agreed to, after reports surfaced that he preferred C.J. Stroud before the season. Reich then publicly backed picking Young, but what was he supposed to do at that point? Either way, Reich is out and has been replaced by Tabor as the interim head coach. If you haven’t heard of Tabor, you aren’t alone. He’s been in the NFL since 2008, but he’s never been more than a special-teams coordinator. He is probably a popular coach who the players will accept as a figurehead to finish out the year. That’s the only thing that makes sense about him being promoted, and it’s likely that Panthers OC Thomas Brown will continue calling the plays.
The Panthers have played at a moderate pace (14th overall) but seem to play quicker on the road (sixth) and slower (24th) at home. Those splits might just be game-flow noise, but since they’re always losing, it’s at least worth noting that they appear to play much faster on the road. The Bucs have been respectable against the run (13th in DVOA) and poor against the pass (20th in DVOA). The DVOA numbers don’t tell the full extent of their run- and pass-defense disparity. The Bucs are eighth in yards allowed per carry and 29th in yards allowed per pass. The Bucs might not be quite the pass funnel they were a few years ago, but they are significantly stronger against the run and most teams have decided it’s best to attack them through the air. The Panthers want to run more than pass – they check in 18th in pass rate over expectation (PROE) – but have passed at the fifth-highest rate in the league (66%). Those discrepancies are the result of them always losing, which is the likely scenario again this week. The Bucs are best attacked through the air, and the Panthers have no reason to be conservative. Their season is over. They might as well let Young cut it loose and see what he can give them for the future. Expect the Panthers to come out with a more pass-leaning game plan than usual to see what Young can do, with the fact that approach equates to attacking the weakness of the Bucs defense being a happy accident.
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