Tampa Bay crushes Carolina Panthers as boos rain in Charlotte. Quick thoughts
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Three weeks ago, on Sunday Night Football, Bryce Young jogged out onto the field to take part in “victory formation” and heard chants of “M-V-P!” echo into the din.
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Sunday, there were boos.
Many of them.
They didn’t come swiftly. But once the Bank of America Stadium crowd’s cacophony arrived, after a Tampa Bay Buccaneers strip-sack-scoop-and-score to extend the Panthers’ deficit to 17-0, they reared their heads again and again and again.
The brutal final: 43-13. The Panthers still sit atop the NFC South alone at 3-3, thanks to their division’s early struggles, and Bucs starting quarterback Baker Mayfield progressed to 7-1 in his career against the Panthers. It’s safe to say the good vibes are no longer springing in Charlotte; the Panthers, on Sunday, made sure of it.
Carolina gave up more rushing yards (47) then the team did in either of its last two contests on the Bucs’ first drive. (The Panthers gave up 46 against the Lions and 35 against the Eagles, back when they looked like an entirely different team.)
It went downhill from there. The Panthers gave up three more first-half turnovers: a muffed punt from David Moore, then the aforementioned strip sack, then Bryce Young’s first interception since Week 3. That doesn’t include the extra point fiasco, when a Ryan Fitzgerald kick was blocked by Bucs safety Tykee Smith and returned by Zyon McCollum into the other end zone (yielding the Bucs two points).
Young added another interception in the third quarter, and the offensive line turned into turnstiles in the second half. Young was sacked five times for 32 yards. It’s fortunate the QB exited Sunday healthy ahead of the Panthers’ Thursday Night Football game against the Green Bay Packers.
Young’s final stat-line: 14 of 27 for 163 yards and one touchdown and two interceptions. That summed up to a season-worst 51.9 passer rating. Sunday marked his first multiple-turnover game of 2026 — and his first fumble on the year at all.
Young’s favorite targets were Tetairoa McMillan (four catches for 40 yards), Darren Waller (one catch, 50 yards, TD) and Chuba Hubbard (four catches, 27 yards). Brycen Tremayne was targeted only once. It was on a fourth down within the Panthers’ 5-yard line, and the wideout committed a rare drop that would’ve cut the lead from 30 points to … 23 (or maybe even 24).
Hubbard added seven carries for 33 rushing yards.
Backup quarterback Kenny Pickett entered the game with 10:21 left in the fourth quarter — the Panthers irretrievably down, 43-6.
Every important statistical category was owned by the Bucs. That includes total net yards (322 vs. 266) and total rushing yards (258 vs. 88) and time of possession (35:18 to 24:03) and … well, that’s enough. Those 258 rushing yards marked the 12th time the Panthers have allowed 200-plus rushing yards under defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero.
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Even Luke Kuechly, who was honored at halftime for his recent induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, couldn’t quell any frustrations. Those were “Luuuuuke” cheers — but it was tough to discern on this Murphy’s Law-esque day.
Here are three other takeaways from Sunday’s dominance.
When discussing the Panthers’ terrible day, you should mention the offensive line. And when you mention the offensive line, you can point to three moments:
Mayfield continued his dominance against the Panthers. And he didn’t really even need to do much.
His most special play came in the second quarter, when he eluded tacklers in the backfield to make time for Tez Johnson to spring free for a touchdown catch. He strutted in front of the Panthers sideline in celebration. Mayfield made no real overture to the Panthers; there was no need; he’d won the day.
His day finished early in the fourth quarter. He only attempted 11 passes, completing seven passes for 64 yards and one touchdown for a 109.7 passer rating. Meanwhile, he handed the ball off 42 times — and even took one rush himself for one yard.
Mayfield was returning from an injury after missing three games. The injury? A dislocated thumb on his throwing hand. The Bucs’ training staff designed a special glove to help the QB; he just didn’t need to use it much Sunday.
There were no bright spots Sunday. Not even on special teams — a muffed punt and a blocked PAT will do that. A coach was even penalized for “sideline interference” while the special teams unit was out on the field, a blunder on top of blunders.
Worth noting, though: Special teams ace Tre Tyus earned some carries as a running back on Sunday. He even earned his first touchdown rush of his career from 12 yards out.
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This story was originally published October 25, 2026 at 3:53 PM.
