The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have won just one game this season, and it was an impressive prime time victory over Dak Prescott and the hapless Dallas Cowboys defense behind him. And while rookie quarterback Jalon Daniels got the W and played very well in terms of protecting the ball, the real star of the show was absolutey Bucky Irving, who rattled off 165 rushing yards, including a 72 yard scorcher, while scoring two total touchdowns for the Tampa offense.
Unfortunately, the Bucs didn't make full use of Irving and the ground game the following week, falling to the Pittsburgh Steelers after only picking up 102 yards on the ground. The Buccaneers made the mistake of forcing Daniels to do too much, and without a smash mouth running game to chew clock and keep the opposing offense off the field, the Bucs had to watch themselves get picked apart by Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers while not doing nearly enough to answer back.
With star quarterback Baker Mayfield back in the fold, the Buccaneers will have more ammo to face the Carolina Panthers defense, but judging by how he has struggled this season, too, the Bucs are going to need a strong running game regardless. And even in 2024 when Mayfield was one of the top quarterbacks in the league, the Bucs were still a stronger team because of what Bucky Irving was doing on the ground.
Bucky Irving needs to make Carolina suffer
But not only do the Buccaneers need to ride the talent of their top running back, but they also need to go back to using Sean Tucker more. The bruising No. 3 rusher in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers backfield was tremendous at times in the 2025 NFL season when Irving was injured, and he was great even this season when he did get the rock, shining in spot duty in a tough loss to the Green Bay Packers.
The Carolina Panthers run defense is horrible and weaker than their pass defense. Whereas they are 9th in the NFL in yards per pass attempt allowed, they are literally the worst team in the NFL with 5.1 yards per carry allowed on the ground.
Carolina's run defense is soft and weak, while Irving and Tucker are powerful rushers who can absolutely toast teams in between the tackles - and we all saw against the Dallas Cowboys how Irving can take those runs to the house, too. The Bucs need to win this rivalry game, and they need to rip up the Panthers biggest weakness by pounding the ball down their hearts.
Add us as a preferred source on Google