With the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints enjoying Week 5 byes, only two games featured NFC South teams. Kicking off the week, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hosted the New England Patriots in an early-season “pretender vs. contender” matchup. Meanwhile, the Carolina Panthers hit the road to Motor City to take on the Detroit Lions.
New England 19, Tampa Bay 14
One of the prominent storylines in HBO’s “Hard Knocks” this preseason was the Buccaneers’ kicking issues. Inconsistency plagued last year’s starter Roberto Aguayo, ultimately resulting in his release.
Nick Folk has not turned out to be any better, as it turns out. After missing two field goals and an extra point last week, his seat got even warmer after three more misses.
To nobody’s great surprise, the Buccaneers went ahead and made a roster move on Monday, signing Patrick Murray.
As a result, the team squandered Jameis Winston’s 300-yard performance. Doug Martin also turned in a strong game on his return from suspension, which should encourage head coach Dirk Koetter. This was a team that had only averaged 3.6 yards per carry before this week, after all.
The Buccaneers will be left feeling that the sooner they get Lavonte David and Kwon Alexander back, the better. For all the promise that this squad has, they will need the heart of their defense healthy. With a toothless pass rush on Thursday, it was inevitable that Tom Brady was eventually able to pick them apart.
Offensively, their balance presents them with a good opportunity to right the ship in Week 6 against the Arizona Cardinals. DeSean Jackson will look to build on his first 100-yard performance with the team, and Mike Evans will be eager to rebound from a fairly quiet game against the Patriots.
Carolina 27, Detroit 24
Ed Dickson may be an unlikely candidate to fill the void left by Greg Olsen. Truth be told, few would be able to, anyway. However, Dickson came through in a huge way for Cam Newton and the Panthers with a career day.
Not only did he average thirty-five yards per catch, but 4 of his 5 receptions came on downs with 10 or more yards to go.
Newton’s off-field issues aside, his smile and swagger are returning, and the Panthers as a whole are benefiting. The improvisation on Christian McCaffrey’s touchdown and the awareness to capitalize on Kelvin Benjamin and Devin Funchess’ size advantage highlighted his three touchdown passes on the day.
The pick of the lot was arguably Newton’s deep ball early in the third, as he dropped the ball in over Benjamin’s shoulder, well out of reach of Darius Slay.
Panthers opponents the last 3 games have averaged over 3 touchdowns and 325 yards of offense per game. 4-1 is a hot start, but Ron Rivera will have to reverse if the team intends to continue the momentum. The key for this team is ball control, and to ensure that, getting Ryan Kalil healthy is imperative.
Next up for the Panthers is a Thursday night tilt against the Philadelphia Eagles, who boast a similar 4-1 record. In all likelihood due to coming off short rest, Thursday games this season have generally been anti-climactic affairs, but the Panthers will need to capitalize on the home field advantage to stymie the Eagles and their top-ten offense.
SUMMARY
The Panthers have been here before recently, as their 2015 Super Bowl run came despite Benjamin suffering a season-ending injury. Newton may be smiling and displaying the same swagger, but the team still needs defensive consistency.
As for the Buccaneers, they have the talent on paper. How they bounce back on the road will reveal a lot about their ability to truly contend.
In other Week 6 NFC South action, the Falcons host the Miami Dolphins and the Saints will greet the Detroit Lions.