For the second time this season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are playing the Carolina Panthers with a lot at stake, and everyone is justifiably nervous about it.
Back at the beginning of December the Bucs needed overtime to avoid a potentially fatal loss to the Panthers. Now that we've reached the end of the month, the stakes are, unfortunately, the same as Tampa Bay is in a must-win situation against one of the worst teams in the league.
The worst part about it is that the game is far from a sure thing.
Tampa Bay is the superior team but the Bucs have managed to get in their own way more than a few times this year. Some of that is on the players and coaches but a major factor -- and theme -- this season has been injuries.
Every single key player has missed some sort of time, from Baker Mayfield and Bucky Irving missing plays in-game to Mike Evans and Tristan Wirfs missing weeks at a time. Vita Vea sprained his MCL back in Week 2, Jordan Whitehead was just activated off IR, and Antoine Winfield Jr. remains out with a knee injury.
That's been something holding the Bucs down but it hasn't totally held them back. Despite all of the bad injury luck, Tampa Bay is still in a position to win the NFC South but will need to take care of their end of things a little short-handed.
Full inactives list for Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 17 vs. Panthers
One of the biggest losses over the last few weeks on defense has been Winfield, but the offense has been without tight end Cade Otton due to a knee injury of his own. Not only will Otton be missing from action but the Bucs will be without Sterling Shepard who injured his hamstring in last Sunday's loss to Dallas.
Here's the complete list of inactives for the Bucs today:
Player | Position | Injury |
|---|---|---|
Antoine Winfield Jr. | S | Knee |
Cade Otton | TE | Knee |
Shaq Barrett | LB | Healthy Scratch |
Royce Newman | OL | Healthy Scratch |
Jose Ramirez | LB | Healthy Scratch |
Michael Pratt | QB | Emergency 3rd String QB |
Not having Otton or Shepard puts a strain on an offense that will likely be tasked with carrying a major load against the Panthers. Getting some distance on the scoreboard between the two teams will go a long way, but the Bucs only mustered up 10 points in the second half against the Cowboys while the defense held Dallas to just three.
That ended up being the difference, which hopefully means the Bucs come out angry and put the game away like they should. Of course, nothing comes easy for this team which means we could all be in for a long afternoon.
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