Tampa Trainwrecked

Arguably the biggest upset of the season, the lowly Carolina Panthers blew out Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 21-3, on Sunday afternoon. 

Brady may have had 290 yards through the air on 32-for-49, but the Bucs couldn’t find the end zone once against this Carolina defense. In fact, the Panthers held them scoreless until a fourth-quarter field goal put Tampa Bay on the board. 

For Brady, this is the first time since 2002 that he has a losing record through the first seven games of the season, as the Bucs fall to 3-4 on the year.

This game started with seven total punts, with both teams unable to find any offensive success. But it was the Panthers, led by quarterback PJ Walker, getting things done. 

The Panthers were without All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey for the first time since the blockbuster trade with the San Francisco 49ers just a few days ago, but Walker and the rest of the offense used the opportunity to prove everyone wrong.

And that came in the form of a 20-yard touchdown pass to DJ Moore, the team’s top receiver, to go up 7-0. 

Then, in the second half as the Bucs continued to struggle and turn the ball over on downs, the two running backs for the Panthers, Chuba Hubbard and D’Onta Foreman went back-to-back plays for a touchdown. It was Foreman first, rushing for 60 yards to get the Panthers in scoring range. Then, Hubbard went 17 yards for the touchdown to make it 14-0. 

Tampa Bay would go 14 plays, the longest drive of the day, but the result was a field goal after they had three chances to score from Carolina’s eight-yard line. 

The back-breaking score, though, was came from Tommy Tremble, who broke free through the Tampa Bay secondary and scored on a 29-yard pass from Walker to make it 21-3. 

Walker finished the game with 177 yards through the air on 16-for-22 with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Foreman had 118 yards on 15 carries for the game-high in rushing, while Hubbard had 63 yards on nine touches.

Mike Evans was Brady’s top target yet again, hauling in nine receptions for 96 yards. 

Losing their last two, the Bucs will head back to Tampa Bay to face the Baltimore Ravens this Thursday.