The Tampa Bay Buccaneers fell to the Carolina Panthers in a humbling loss, making it their fourth defeat in the previous five games. The Week Seven clash would have provided a strengthened grip on the NFC South division for Tampa Bay, but instead, the Bucs head home with a 3-4 record. The same issues that have plagued the Buccaneers, contributed to the team's demise: inability to convert on short-yardage situations, ineffectiveness on third down and a defense that did not close in the second half.
The Buccaneers and Panthers took part in a back-and-forth game of trading punts in the first half. Tampa Bay had four-consecutive punts to start the divisional contest, and the Panthers had three-straight before finding the end zone in the final minute of the second quarter. What could have been a 64-yard touchdown to Mike Evans on the opening possession, ended up culminating in a punt after Evans bobbled, then dropped the pass. P.J. Walker connected with D.J. Moore to give the Panthers a 7-0 lead heading into intermission. The Buccaneers totaled eight first downs through the first two frames and converted two-of-six third-down conversion attempts. With a lack of cohesion to sustain drives, the Bucs were held scoreless in the first half, for the second time in the 2022 slate (Saints).
The trend continued in the second half. The Buccaneers sole points came on a Ryan Succop 27-yard field goal. Defensively, after forcing three quick three-and-outs to begin the second half, the Bucs' defense allowed two-straight scoring drives for Carolina. Under the four-minute mark in the third quarter, a 60-yard run for D'Onta Foreman set up a Panthers' touchdown – a Chubba Hubbard 17-yard run through the B-gap. On the next offensive drive, the 7-play, 75-yard drive was capped off with a Tommy Tremble score, giving Carolina a 21-3 advantage at Bank of America Stadium. Overall, the Buccaneers converted just two of 12 third-down attempts and the defense allowed too many chunk plays in the second half of play. It is back to the drawing board for Tampa Bay.
