Bucs RB Bucky Irving looks to repeat performance against Panthers’ struggling run defense – NFL

Carolina (4-11) at Tampa Bay (8-7)

Sunday, 1 p.m. EST, FOX.

BetMGM Odds: Buccaneers par 8.

Against the spread: Panthers 7-8, Buccaneers 9-6

Series record: Panthers lead 25-23.

Last meeting: the Buccaneers beat the Panthers 26-23 in overtime on December 1, 2024, in Carolina.

Last week: Panthers beat Cardinals 36-30 in overtime; The Buccaneers lost to the Cowboys 26-24.

Panthers offense: total (30), rush (16), pass (30), score (t-26)

Panthers defense: total (31), rush (32), pass (10), score (32)

Buccaneers offense: total (3), rushing (7), passing (3), scoring (5)

Buccaneers defense: overall (25), rush (10), pass (30), score (22)

Turnover differential: Panthers minus-4, Buccaneers minus-6.

Panthers player to watch

RB Chuba Hubbard is coming off a big game, rushing for 152 yards and two touchdowns last week against the Arizona Cardinals, including a game-winning 21-yard touchdown in overtime. Hubbard got a little redemption for his overtime fumble against the Buccaneers that cost his team a loss on December 1. Now he would like some redemption against the Bucs. Hubbard has 1,195 rushing yards this season, the fourth-most in Carolina history, and has 10 rushing touchdowns.

Buccaneers players to watch

Former Panthers quarterback Baker Mayfield is 3-0 against his former team since joining the Bucs, but it hasn’t been easy. Tampa Bay won two of the games by three points and settled for three field goals in a 9-0 victory that clinched the team’s third straight NFC South title last season. The Bucs need a win Sunday to maintain at least a share of first place in the division, although the Falcons (8-7) hold the tiebreaker after sweeping the season series between the teams. Mayfield has rekindled his career since leaving Carolina two years ago. He’s thrown a career-high 34 touchdowns this season and leads an offense that ranks third in yards per game and fifth in scoring.

Key match

Buccaneers RB Bucky Irving defense against the Panthers. The last time these two teams met four weeks ago, Irving ran for a career-high 152 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries while the Bucs racked up 239 rushing yards on 39 carries. This is the norm for the Panthers. Over the last seven games, the Panthers have allowed nearly 200 rushing yards per game and rank last in the league in run defense. Irving ran for 68 yards on 16 carries and a touchdown against the Dallas Cowboys last week.

Key injuries

The Panthers hope to get WR Xavier Legette back from injury this week. Buccaneers S Antoine Winfield Jr (knee) missed the last two games. The status of TE Cade Otton (knee), LB KJ Britt (ankle) and WR Sterling Shepard (hamstring/foot) is also uncertain. S Christian Izien (pectoral) was placed on injured reserve Thursday. S Jordan Whitehead (pectoral) entered a 21-day practice window to return from IR and could be activated as early as this weekend.

Series Notes

The Bucs have won eight of the last nine games against the Panthers, including four in a row. Mayfield is 3-0 against Carolina since being released by the Panthers and 4-0 against them forever.

Statistics and others

The Panthers are 1-5 on the road under first-year head coach Dave Canales. … Quarterback Bryce Young ran for a career-high 68 yards against the Cardinals, including a career-long 34-yard run. … Hubbard ranks sixth in the NFL in rushing yards heading into Week 17 and is also tied for sixth in rushing first downs (62) and tied for ninth in runs of 10-plus yards (26). … With his 11-yard reception in the second quarter against Dallas in Week 15, WR Adam Thielen surpassed 8,000 receiving yards. He became just the fourth undrafted player since 1967 with 8,000 receiving yards, joining Antonio Gates, Rod Smith and Wes Welker. …The Buccaneers are 8-2 in December/January regular season games dating back to 2023. They are 20-6 in such games since 2020. …Irving leads all NFL rookies in terms of running (920 yards) and dashing. TD (seven). He is also first with 1,240 total yards from scrimmage. … The Bucs are seventh in the league in rushing after finishing last in each of the last two seasons. They topped 100 yards in 12 of 15 games after doing so just nine times in the previous two years combined. … Although poor tackling was a factor in last week’s loss at Dallas, the Bucs’ defense has made progress over the past month. Since the team’s Week 11 bye, Tampa Bay has allowed just 284.2 yards and 17.2 points per game.

Fancy tip

Buccaneers WR Mike Evans is closing in on his 11th straight season with over 1,000 receiving yards. He played some of the biggest games of his career against the Panthers. In 20 games against Carolina, Evans has 110 receptions for 1,598 yards and 12 touchdowns. He had eight catches for 118 yards and a touchdown in the first meeting this season.

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