Bucs Punk Panthers

So much for predictions and stats. Sundays game was Tampa Bay's first at home victory against Panthers since 2002. With this Panthers loss there is now a two way tie for first in the NFC South between Carolina and Tamp Bay.

FUN FACT: Both head coaches, Carolina's John Fox and Tamp Bay's Jon Gruden, have been with these teams since the division re-alignment that created the NFC South.

The Bucs first scored off a Jason Baker blocked punt. Then a Jeff Garcia pass put Tampa Bay up 14-0.

In the second quarter the Panthers had to settle for a John Kasay field goal which put 3 on the score board. The Bucs answered with a field goal of their own to make the score, 17-3 before the half.

That was all the Panthers had, as the Bucs scored another field goal and touchdown in the second half.

Coach John Fox said in an interview that he thinks it’s harder to handle success than failure.

Franchise offensive linemen, Jorgan Gross said, “I know you’ve heard this a million times, but we’re 4-2 and I don’t think anybody needs to throw in the towel. But if we’re going to beat good teams we are going to have to play a heck of a lot better than we did.

There were missed opportunities when Delhomme under threw a wide open Smith on a 48-yard completion that easily could have gone for a 72-yard scoring pass. Steve Smith also dropped what would have been a TD pass in the final minutes of the game. Smith finished with six catches for 112 yards.

“You have a good game last week. You dominate defensively, offensively, you run the ball, and pass the ball and then just come in here and basically lay an egg,” Smith said. “A loss is always a letdown. With the kind of success we’ve had and we showed so early the way we had it. You know it’s a letdown, you can’t take away that they are a good team. A team like this, you can’t start 14 down or seven in the hole, you just can’t do that. You know you put yourself in a position where you have to do things you necessarily don’t want to do, and that’s what happened.”

Even though the Panther's QB, Jake Delhomme, was 7-1 versus the Bucaneers this didn't help today. All three of Tampa Bay's interceptions came on passes that were deflected off Delhomme's intended receivers. "I don't know if its a wake-up call. We got beat," Delhomme said. "Very simply, we didn't play well and they played well."

Carolina's QB Jake Delhomme had 20 catches for 39 attempts, a total of 242 yards, 0 TD and 1 INT. Jeff Garcia had 15 catches for 20 attempts, a total of 173 yards, 1 TD and 0 INT. So it seems that even though Delhomme through for more yards, it was the interceptions that paved the way for Garcia to win this battle.

This is the first time this season the Panthers defense has allowed a 100-yard rusher. Earnest Graham had only 5 carries for 11 yards but scored 1 TD.

Previous rushers the Panthers faced this season:
- L. Tomlinson (Chargers), 97 yards, 0 TD
- M. Forte (Bears), 92 yards, 0 TD
- A. Peterson (Vikings), 77 yards, 0 TD
- M. Turner (Falcons), 56 yards, 0 TD
- L. Johnson (Chiefs), 2 yards, 0 TD

The Panthers need to focus on the rest of the season and put this loss behind them however his picture says alot on how Carolina was feeling in Tampa Bay.