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Four Losers and One Winner from Panthers' Embarrassing Loss to Buccaneers
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- Four Losers and One Winner from Panthers' Embarrassing Loss to Buccaneers
Sunday wasn't the highest point for the Carolina Panthers in recent memory.
The team was in a perfect spot to take a firm lead of the NFC South, but instead, they suffered a blowout loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers . There are not many positives from the 43-13 loss, as is to be expected.
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Now, we'll go over the losers and winners from this matchup. The losers section will take quite a bit longer than the winners section will.
Loser: Offensive Line
Dec 22, 2024; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers offensive tackle Taylor Moton (72) on the sidelines before the game at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
Let's be blunt here: the Panthers' offensive line is paid too much to be as bad as it is. Robert Hunt, Luke Fortner, Damien Lewis, and Corey Bullock have all been worse than expected, and the tackle situation has been a mess.
On Sunday, it went from bad to worse as Taylor Moton suffered a serious injury . In total, the unit allowed five sacks, eight tackles for loss, and six quarterback hits. Another horrible day for this unit.
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Loser: Run Defense
I know Jaelan Phillips was out, but there's no reason this defense should've been abused on the edges like it was. The Buccaneers dominated on the ground, and even though everybody knew the Buccaneers were running it, they couldn't be stopped.
In total, the Bucs racked up 258 total rushing yards and three rushing scores. This is the second embarrassing performance of the season from the rushing defense, and it's definitely a problem at this point.
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Winner: Anthony Tyus II
Anthony Tyus II gets to be the lone winner of the weekend. The former undrafted free agent got three carries and made the most of them, ending with 23 yards and one touchdown.
When a fourth-string running back is the only winner, you know it was a bad day.
Loser: Jalen Coker
Jalen Coker has been having a solid season. The receiver has definitely stepped up and proved he can handle the WR2 role, but Sunday was his first real dud of the season.
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Coker ended with just one catch for nine yards on four targets. On a day when nothing went right for the Panthers, it would've been nice if the reliable pieces at least showed up. Hopefully this can just chalked up to an off week and Coker can go back to putting up respectable numbers next week.
Loser: Dave Canales and Ejiro Evero
Oct 25, 2026; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales looks on before the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images
It's hard not to point a lot of the blame in Dave Canales and Ejiro Evero's direction. Canales mentioned after the game that the run defense problems came down to "execution." Well, who does lack of execution get blamed on?
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It's also worth noting that Evero's defenses frequently have a few games a year like this. The defensive coordinator's units have a bad habit of falling apart at the worst possible time, and that's what happened on Sunday.
More on the Carolina Panthers
This story was originally published by Athlon on Oct 25, 2026, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add Athlon as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
