What the ESPN FPI Says About the Panthers' Chances Against Tampa Bay

Can the Panthers get back in the win column on Sunday?

Not only are the Panthers on a four game losing skid and are officially eliminated from playoff contention but now, they get to welcome in a ticked off Tom Brady. This past Sunday, the New Orleans Saints defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9-0. Brady lost several key players throughout the game including WR Chris Godwin, WR Mike Evans, and RB Leonard Fournette just to name a few. 

With the Bucs likely to be without a number of players once again, the Panthers were handed the perfect blueprint on how to slow down this Tom Brady-led offense as it's currently constructed. The main theme for New Orleans was generating an effective four-man pass rush and dropping seven into coverage. Carolina has the horses to do it with Brian Burns, Haason Reddick, Derrick Brown, and Yetur Gross-Matos but the secondary has taken quite a hit lately with A.J. Bouye and Donte Jackson out for the remainder of the season.

A win for the Panthers over Tampa Bay would likely ease some of the tension and frustration from the fan base toward second year head coach Matt Rhule who currently has a 10-20 record in two seasons with the team. The playoffs may be out of the picture but folks want to see this team taking steps forward and a win over Tampa Bay would certainly be exactly that.

According to the ESPN FPI, the Panthers have just a 26% chance of beating the Buccaneers on Sunday.

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