Plays to Love https://www.carolinapanthersfanshop.com/Mike-Adams-Jersey , Plays to Hate (aka “P2L, P2H”) looks at the most significant plays in swinging momentum and impacting the eventual outcome of the game. There is always plenty to hate about NFL officiating, so we will only focus on the plays on the field, not the refs.Three plays to love1st Quarter 5:02 – Panthers 0, Bucs 10. Panthers ball 2nd-and-2 at CAR 39The Situation: Carolina looked terrible to start the game and quickly fell behind 10-0 in the first quarter. The Panthers offense needed something big to give the team some life. The Play: Christian McCaffrey exploded through a gaping hole on the left side and sprinted 53 yards to the Tampa Bay eight yard line. Credit goes to Greg Olsen and Chris Clark for outstanding blocks to clear the way. CMC scored on the next play to trim the Bucs lead to 10-7. 2nd Quarter 10:03 – Panthers 7, Bucs 10. Buccaneers ball 2nd-and-Goal at CAR 4The Situation: The Bucs passing game was shredding the Panthers secondary on yet another long drive, looking to add to their 10-7 lead. Tampa Bay moved the ball down to the Carolina four yard line and looked poised to punch in another touchdown. The Play: Peyton Barber took a handoff and surged toward the goal line. He reached the ball forward as he lunged to break the plane. The ball came down on top of one of his blockers and was jarred loose for a fumble which Luke Kuechly alertly recovered in the end zone. This self-inflicted wound from the Bucs was a momentum shifter because it allowed Carolina to remain behind by just one score at the end of the game. 3rd Quarter 6:44 – Panthers 10, Bucs 24. Panthers ball 3rd-and-7 at CAR 11The Situation: The Bucs had just scored a touchdown to go up 24-10 in the third quarter. Kenjon Barner then muffed the kick return and was tackled at the Carolina eight yard line. Two plays later the Panthers faced 3rd-and-7 from the 11. A three-and-out with a punt from the end zone would have been devastating. The Play: Christian McCaffrey did what he always does - run a route, burn a defender in coverage (this time Lavonte David), catch a short pass, make people miss, and pick up a first down. Instead of punting from the end zone, CMC’s 15-yard gain extended a drive which ended with a Devin Funchess touchdown to cut the Panthers deficit to seven points at 24-17. Three plays to hateAll Four of Cam Newton’s InterceptionsThe Situation: I’m going to lump these into a singular “Play to Hate” instead of spreading them out one by one. The Play: Cam Newton’s first quarter interception set up Tampa Bay at the Carolina 20 and resulted in a field goal. His second quarter interception occurred at the Tampa Bay 25 and likely took a least a field goal off the board. His first fourth quarter pick happened just after the Panthers had crossed midfield and finally had some momentum after gains of 31 and 13 yards. His second fourth quarter interception occurred at the Tampa Bay 32 with the Panthers trailing by seven with 5:19 left in the game. The four picks were simply too much to overcome.3rd Quarter 10:19 – Panthers 10, Bucs 17. Buccaneers ball 3rd-and-7 at TB 28The Situation: There are multiple third down plays to hate here which led to a Tampa Bay touchdown and a 24-10 lead. The Play: On 3rd-and-7 from the Tampa Bay 28, James Bradberry was in press coverage on Mike Evans, got beat, and was flagged for a 12-yard pass interference to extend the drive. Three plays later the Bucs faced 3rd-and-11 from the Tampa Bay 39. This time Donte Jackson dropped back in deep, soft coverage and gave up 18-yards to an inexcusably wide-open Chris Godwin on an out route. On the very next play, Donte Jackson was flagged for a questionable 52-yard pass interference in the end zone as he let Bobo Wilson simply run past him on a streak. The Bucs scored from the 1-yard line to go up 24-10. Don’t blame the bad pass interference call for the touchdown - blame the failure to defend the pass on 3rd-and-7 and 3rd-and-11 earlier on this drive!4th Quarter 2:57 – Panthers 17 https://www.carolinapanthersfanshop.com/Matt-Kalil-Jersey , Bucs 24. Panthers ball 2nd-and-5 at TB 44The Situation: The Panthers had played terribly yet trailed by just seven points with 2:57 left and all three timeouts remaining. They had driven to the Tampa Bay 44 looking to tie the game late. The Play(s): The offense burned a precious timeout to set up the perfect play for 2nd-and-5. Instead, Chris Clark got smoked by Jason Pierre-Paul and Cam got sacked for a five yard loss, setting up a crucial 4th-and-9. The Panthers burned another valuable timeout to draw up a play to save the game. This time the play worked perfectly and Devin Funchess released wide open on a deep seam route and Cam overthrew him by 10 feet. Funch was as open as an NFL receiver can be and would have picked up 20-plus yards, but Cam missed him - and the Panthers last legitimate shot to tie the game - by a country mile. Closing it out and summing it upAnd...there goes the season. Four straight losses after a 6-2 start is hard to swallow.I’m a Panthers optimist. Until they are mathematically eliminated, I always hold out hope they can make the postseason. Once an NFL team is in the playoffs, anything can happen. My mentality with the Panthers is “never tank” and “we’ll win next week”, but a putrid loss like this turns even a football Pollyanna like me into a cynic who wants to smash his remote. There’s no way to sugar coat this - Cam Newton’s poor decision making and lack of accuracy leading to the four interceptions cost the Panthers the game. Cam has been spectacular this season so let’s just chalk this up to a bad day. No need for long-term concerns with our franchise quarterback. The inability of the Panthers secondary to stop drives when opponents are facing third-and-long has been ridiculous all season. When opponents face 3rd-and-11, for example, and I see our corners and safeties retreat on the snap into that stupid deep, soft zone, I just close my eyes and wait for the inevitable 15-yard reception for a first down. That deep, soft zone is maddening. Christian McCaffrey (106 rushing yards, 55 receiving, 1 touchdown) and D.J. Moore (44 receiving yards, 21 rushing) continue to be special. Even after all of this, we’re not eliminated from the postseason just yet. I’m probably in the minority here, but I hope they Panthers finish strong, fix their defensive mistakes, and miraculously win out from here. Yes https://www.carolinapanthersfanshop.com/Captain-Munnerlyn-Jersey , that sentence sounded just as crazy to me as I typed it, but wins make me happy, losses frustrate me, and I don’t want to smash my expensive remote anytime soon. Plays to love season leaders6 - Christian McCaffrey 5 - D.J. Moore3 - Cam Newton, Greg Olsen, James Bradberry2 - Chris Clark, Devin Funchess, Efe Obada, Kyle Love, Ryan Kalil, Torrey Smith, 1 - Ben Jacobs, Colin Jones, David Mayo, Donte Jackson, Eric Reid, Graham Gano, Greg Van Roten, Jarius Wright https://www.carolinapanthersfanshop.com/David-Mayo-Jersey , Julius Peppers, Kawann Short, Luke Kuechly, Mario Addison, Michael Palardy, Norv Turner, Ron Rivera, Taylor Heinicke, Wes HortonPlays to hate season leaders6 - Cam Newton 4 - Eric Reid, James Bradberry, Mike Adams2 - Captain Munnerlyn, Christian McCaffrey, D.J. Moore, Dontari Poe, Donte Jackson, Eric Washington, Graham Gano1 - Amini Silatolu, C.J. Anderson, Chris Clark https://www.carolinapanthersfanshop.com/Devin-Funchess-Jersey , Colin Jones, Corn Elder, Devin Funchess, Ian Thomas, Luke Kuechly, Norv Turner, Ron Rivera, Thomas Davis, Trai Turner Ryan Fitzpatrick tried to bring the Buccaneers back from another big hole. But it was the size of the hole they were in to begin with that proved to be too much.The Panthers held on for a 42-28 win over the Buccaneers, after watching a 35-7 lead in the second quarter shrink to a 35-28 edge in the fourth.But they got another clean game from quarterback Cam Newton, who finished 19-of-25 for 247 yards and two touchdowns.But it was the way they ran that was so instructive. Christian McCaffrey scored two touchdowns, and wide receiver Curtis Samuel added a 33-yard run which covered 103 yards (according to the NFL’s NextGen stats), and fullback Alex Armah had another one.That moved the Panthers to 6-2, an impressive start after the hole they were in three quarters of the way through the Eagles game three weeks ago (when a 17-0 deficit disappeared).The Bucs are now 3-5, but at least entertaining with Fitzpatrick throwing four touchdowns and two interceptions.