Panthers burning questions for Sunday against Buccaneers

Can the secondary control the offense?

I know it seems like this is been a topic of discussion for the past couple of weeks now, but it is a burning question heading into Sunday for the Panthers. Can the secondary stop the Tampa Bay offense? They did a good job when the two teams met on November 4, holding the Buccaneers to 219 yards through the air. Let’s hope that they can do that again.

It is certainly worth noting that the Panthers may face a different quarterback than the one they faced a couple weeks ago. Jameis Winston did a nice job in Tampa Bay’s 27-9 win over the San Francisco 49ers. In that contest, he went 20-of-38, throwing for 312 yards and two touchdowns. Per statistics from Pro Football Focus, Winston achieved a 81.3 offensive rating. It is worth noting that Tampa Bay’s star receivers did their job as well. Mike Evans caught six passes for 116 yards, while the ever-dependable tight end Cameron Brate caught three passes for 26 yards and a touchdown.

Without rehashing it too much, the Panthers secondary did not do their job on Sunday. Both Winston and Evans are coming in on a high note. With an 85.2 offensive rating and an 83.9 receiving rating, Evans posted his highest ratings since the opening week against the New Orleans Saints. Last week against the  Seahawks, the Panthers gave up 339 receiving yards. The combination of the stellar play of the Tampa Bay receivers combined with an embattled secondary may be a bad combination. How this defense holds up will be extremely intriguing.