The Panthers scored a couple of touchdowns, and after losing to a team which completed four passes, that was nice.
But they were able to end a two-game losing streak based on their defense, which is probably going to have to be the case for a bit.
The Panthers throttled the Buccaneers 17-3, flipping the script from last week’s loss to the Bears and improving to 5-3.
The Bucs entered the game second in the league in total offense, but were held to 279 yards. The Panthers also two interceptions and recovered a fumble, after an uncharacteristic streak of not creating turnovers. The picks were their first since Week One.
That was enough to survive another uneven offensive day. The Panthers still don’t seem to have wrapped their minds around the offensive evolution they talked about all offseason. Cam Newton threw for a touchdown, but was just 18-of-32 for 154 yards with an interception.
For the Buccaneers (2-5), it was the fourth straight loss, which won’t do anything to stop some of the grumbling there.
