Carolina Panthers (3-0) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-2)
Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET, at Raymond James Stadium, Tampa – TV: FOX
*TV announcers: Chris Myers, Ronde Barber, Jennifer Hale
*Keys to the game: Cam Newton is playing better than ever without a great supporting cast but the Panthers still want to establish the run before setting Newton loose on a Bucs defense gouged four 368.9 yards per game. Tampa is allowing the third-most rushing yards in the league and even though RB Jonathan Stewart is dinged up, Carolina is committed to setting its anchor with the ground game. It opens up shots to TE Greg Olsen, who has had very good success against cover-2 defenses.
Bucs QB Jameis Winston is still getting his feet wet and can be rattled if the Panthers are able to pinch a wobbly offensive line. Carolina’s pass rush has been devastated by injuries and more blitz looks have helped the secondary hold up. Winston will make mistakes the aggressive Panthers defense can capitalize on, so the Buccaneers would rather hand the ball to RB Doug Martin and third-down sub Charles Sims and hope for a few impact plays. So far, that duo hasn’t delivered in the running game, setting Winston up to try to win games on his own.
*Matchup to watch – Panthers CB Josh Norman vs. Bucs WR Mike Evans: Norman is a player on the rise and Evans continues to fight to find a rapport with Winston after a superb rookie season with a mishmash of trigger men. Evans might be just one confidence-builder away from another monster season.
*Player spotlight – Panthers DE Jared Allen: The active NFL leader in sacks (134 career) has just one in his past seven games but called the trade from the winless Bears a “Praise God” moment. Carolina hopes Allen is the answer at a position where injuries and off-field issues have been persistent for most of the past three seasons.
*Fast facts: The Panthers have started a season 4-0 only once (5-0 in 2003). … The Bucs are 7-28 in the past three seasons.
WHO WILL WIN AND WHY
LB Luke Kuechly could rest for one more week, but the Panthers have enough to shake off the Bucs in a field-position game won in the fourth quarter.
*Our pick: Panthers 24-13.
