Sunday wasn't supposed to happened like it did for the Carolina Panthers.
The vibes were high, as the reigning NFC South entered Week 7 sitting on a 1.5-game lead atop the division. And it felt as though that edge was going to expand, with the banged-up 1-5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers coming to town. Oh, and franchise legend and Hall of Famer Luke Kuechly was being honored at halftime
with his Ring of Excellence.But anything the Panthers ended up producing this afternoon was far from excellent.
Here are our top takeaways from the embarrassing 43-13 loss . . .
The offensive line stays offensive . . . and not in a good way
Quarterback Bryce Young, who came into this weekend with a bit of Most Valuable Player buzz, just had his first real stinker of the 2026 season. He completed 14 of his 27 throws for 163 yards, a touchdown
and two interceptions—a far cry from the red-hot run through his first five outings.
But, per usual, his offensive line did him no favors.
No passer, over the first six weeks of the campaign, experienced a higher rate of pressures per dropback than Young. That lack of protection continued, as he was sacked five times—one of which turned into a fumble recovery and return for a touchdown.
That strip-sack was on right guard Robert Hunt, who looks to be a shell of the Pro Bowl form we saw him in two years ago. Left tackle Rasheed Walker has also struggled, and didn't do much to change that in this one.
To add injury to insult, right tackle Taylor Moton—in just his second game back from staving off blood clots in his lung—was carted off with a broken fibula. Moton, obviously, will be sidelined for a while.
The fact that Young is still (relatively) healthy, let alone sitting atop the NFL's passing leaderboard, seems like a miracle given the performance of his linemen. If the Panthers want to get back on track towards the playoffs, they'll have to find some answers along the offensive trench.
Defense not cutting it
Tampa Bay's offense was hampered headed into Bank of America Stadium. Their quarterback had to wear a glove on his throwing hand to prop up his dislocated thumb and their No. 1 wide receiver was out.
So, you'd think it'd be pretty simple to try and stop what was going to be a one-dimensional approach, right? Well, not if you're the Panthers, apparently.
The Bucs dialed up 46 runs to just 11 passes, and still won by 30 points. Those 46 runs resulted in 262 yards and three touchdowns—and really felt like a whole lot more.
When asked about their defensive game plan, head coach Dave Canales attributed the failure not to their play-calling, but to their execution.
"I liked our calls. We had good run calls to take care of some of that run game," Canales told reporters after the game. "It just really came down to execution. Came down to guys fitting their gaps, setting their blocks and then containing the running backs.
"They [Tampa Bay] did a good job. Again, I can't take that them away from that—being patient with their runs and trying to find voids. But it is stuff we have to look at. It's stuff that we have to attack and something that we've made great strides in. But we can't have setbacks like this."
Speaking of setbacks, the injuries to cornerbacks Jaycee Horn and Mike Jackson have given way to Akayleb Evans getting starting reps in the secondary. That can't be the case for much longer.
Evans committed a rough pass interference call in the first quarter and was hit up for a few big gains by wideout Tez Johnson—including a preposterous 14-yard touchdown before the half.
A missed opportunity
As long as we're honoring Kuechly today, let's take a page out of his old head coach's book and chalk this showing up as a missed opportunity.
The Panthers not only had the chance to keep their decent lead in the NFC South race, but they also could've knocked a reeling and banged-up team right out of it. That, of course, did not happen—as the Bucs, at 2-5, still have life.
Plus, the Atlanta Falcons closed the gap on Carolina—upsetting the previously-undefeated San Francisco 49ers in a 29-20 win. Now, with a short turnaround to Lambeau Field against a tough Green Bay Packers squad on Thursday night, the 3-3 Panthers are just half a game up going into Week 8.
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This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: Biggest takeaways from the Panthers' putrid Week 7 loss to Buccaneers
