The other Carolina football team is shockingly now 0-2.
Some optimists might have predicted the Tar Heels would be 2-0 before ever playing a true road game. But who among us would have picked the NFL Panthers to be 0-2 after two home games? After watching the Cats in their first two encounters you could believe it.
Granted, the opener at Bank of America Stadium against the Super Bowl runner-up Rams was a toss-up, and the Panthers lost a game that wasn’t really as close as the 30-27 final score. But that was okay because their next opponent was also at home, the Tampa Bay Bucs, who owned assorted losing streaks.
This was supposed to be a game between mismatched quarterbacks, and it was. Jameis Winston was a lot better than Cam Newton, whose career continues to skid. QB1 couldn’t get his team in the end zone, scoring on just four field goals and a safety. Newton threw the ball 51 times, completing only 25 for a poor rating of 70.1.
Meanwhile, the usually erratic Winston was far better, hitting 16 of 25 for 208 yards and one score, with no picks. The Bucs played smart football and looked like much different behind new head coach Bruce Arians and defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, the former Jets head coach whose unit has given up just one TD in its first two games; Tampa Bay averaged 29 points allowed last season.
Ron Rivera was already on a short leash with new owner David Tepper after losing seven straight games in 2018 following a 6-2 start. And Riverboat Ron has to be feeling hotter around the collar with this dismal performance. While the game may have never been out of reach for the Panthers, the stadium emptied out during the second half as much of the Thursday night football crowd headed home.
Bowles and other astute defensive coordinators must see something about Newton and an offense that now operates around all-purpose back Christian McCaffery, who was hog-tied to 37 yards on 16 carries, the last failing to get a first down or the potential winning touchdown at the Bucs one-yard line with barely a minute left. The frustrating night ended with No. 22 stopped just short.
Eugene Robinson on the Panthers’ post-game radio show said he expected Newton to play Superman on the fourth down and leap over the goal line to glory. But Cam is far from that man we used to know. And that makes nine losses in the Panthers last 10 games. Ouch.
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