Buccaneers facing long odds against inferior Panthers team

The Buccaneers are way better than the Panthers, but injuries could make today very difficult.

On paper, no one would ever say that the Buccaneers and the Panthers are in the same league from a talent standpoint. If you look at nothing other than starting quarterbacks, the Bucs have every tool to win this game, but the injuries in Tampa may still complicate matters.

Every team in the league is dealing with injuries and COVID problems by this point in the season, and the Buccaneers will be without key players on both sides of the ball that could impact this game greatly.

The Panthers had no answer for Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Antonio Brown, but they may have a way to slow down Brown, Tyler Johnson, and Scotty Miller.

The offense runs great with a running back that can block and catch constantly, but these aren’t Ronald Jones’ strong suits.

Antoine Winfield Jr. leaves an already depleted secondary that still hans’t built chemistry without another starter, and the loss of the best linebacker in the NFL will cause everyone to miss Lavonte David.

The Buccaneers are the defending champions and they have Tom Brady at the helm, so there are already going to be very few games where they aren’t the favorites, but today would be the day for a punch in the mouth.

The division is practically locked up, the one seed is out of reach, and these games matter little in the grand scheme of things. Tampa is focused on getting healthy above all else, which means that it is incredibly likely that the team drops one of the next three.

It’s nice to think that the depth will step up against this Panthers team today, but we have seen very little this season to inspire confidence that offensive skill depth is able to take that next step when plunged into greater roles.

Hopefully, today flips that narrative.

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