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Buccaneers vs Panthers: 5 Bucs to watch in Week 8 of 2017

By David Harrison

ORCHARD PARK, NY - OCTOBER 22: Kwon Alexander #58 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers celebrates with Kendell Beckwith #51 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the third quarter of an NFL game against the Buffalo Bills on October 22, 2017 at New Era Field in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
ORCHARD PARK, NY - OCTOBER 22: Kwon Alexander #58 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers celebrates with Kendell Beckwith #51 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the third quarter of an NFL game against the Buffalo Bills on October 22, 2017 at New Era Field in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /
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TAMPA, FL – NOVEMBER 27: Kwon Alexander #58 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers celebrates with a teammate after the game against the Seattle Seahawks at Raymond James Stadium on November 27, 2016 in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers defeated the Seahawks 14-5. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
TAMPA, FL – NOVEMBER 27: Kwon Alexander #58 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers celebrates with a teammate after the game against the Seattle Seahawks at Raymond James Stadium on November 27, 2016 in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers defeated the Seahawks 14-5. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

Kwon Alexander

The Buccaneers got their starting middle linebacker, a captain, and leading tackler most games back for Week 7.

He turned in six solo tackles and participated in three more. He also missed some. Not unexpected from a player who flies around the field and hasn’t played in five weeks nursing a hamstring injury.

Good news is he seems to have come out of Buffalo with a clean bill of health, and some of the rust broken off in a game most agree, his side should have won. What else is new.

Well, one thing new to this coming week is anger and frustration. Some of his teammates have taken to the media and social media to voice frustrations with playing time.

Leaders bring their guys together. Alexander has a ‘C’ on his chest for a reason, so let’s see him and the other captains pool these frustrations into a win.

As an individual, he’s going to be crucial to containing Cam Newton and Christian McCaffrey. He’ll also be instrumental in preventing Johnathan Stewart from becoming the third straight veteran running back to experience a renaissance against the Tampa defense.

Stewart hasn’t broken 100-yards all season, and has yet to find the end zone in 2017. LeSean McCoy had only one game with over 100-yards from scrimmage and no scores on the year when he met the Buccaneers too.

We know what happened there. If Stewart doesn’t get to shake his downward slide, it’ll be in large part due to the efforts of one Kwon Alexander.

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