Buccaneers: Impact Players for the Panthers in Week 16
By Brian DeFeo
Quarterback Cam Newton
While he’s not having another MVP season, Cam Newton has been a thorn in the Buccaneers side since 2011.
In ten games against Tampa, he only has one 300-yard passing game, but he kills the Bucs on the ground.
His rookie year he even had a 27-yard reception.
In his career against the Bucs, he has 24 touchdowns, eight coming on the ground, and only eight turnovers. In Week 8 he didn’t light up the stat sheet, but he controlled the ball and let the defense do the rest.
He had only 154 passing yards, 44 rushing yards, one touchdown and one interception. While he didn’t have Greg Olsen in Week 8, he won’t have Kelvin Benjamin this week after watching him get traded to Buffalo.
Next: Who's the Next Bucs to go into the ROH?
The passing game wasn’t supposed to be elite by any means but there has been a very minimal impact with the departure of Benjamin.
Newton hasn’t been dabbing on people or revealing the Superman logo as much this season but he still has the Panthers sitting pretty. While they are tied with the Saints in the standings they don’t have the division tiebreaker.
Their 5-2 record in the division is one behind New Orleans. They have a great overall record but it might not be enough to get them a bye week or even a home playoff game.
The Panthers need to win this game to keep up in the division. Newton can be a big part of it this week. The Buccaneers will need to contain the offense to win this week because the Carolina defense can shut down the best offenses in the league.
"Check out the full preview episode of the Locked on Bucs podcast where James and Dave give their score predictions and players of the game predictions."
These are our Panthers to watch in Week 16 as they host the Buccaneers. Which players do you think will have the biggest impacts?
Let us know in the comments, and thanks for reading!