Panthers Open Season With Victory Over Bucs

The Carolina Panthers hadn't won a season opener since 2008. They were starting the season on the road against one of their NFC South rivals, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Everyone was calling Tampa Bay a sleeper team, while saying that Carolina would fall off this season. To make matters worse, Cam Newton would be missing the first game of his career due to a lingering rib injury. Backup quarterback Derek Anderson would have to step up and deliver.

And boy, did he ever.

Anderson played a huge role in helping the Panthers win their first game of the 2014 NFL season, completing 24 of his 34 passes for 230 yards and two touchdowns. He even channeled his inner Cam Newton, rushing three times for 10 yards, including a two-yard rush on 4th and 1 that led to the Panthers' first touchdown.

In what seemed like a scenario that spelled doom for Carolina, the Panthers absolutely dominated the Bucs for three and a half quarters.

Then came memories of the Panthers of old. The Panthers who couldn't win close games. The Panthers who always let victory slip through their fingers.

Up 17-0 with 7:23 to go in the game, the Panthers allowed Bucs QB Josh McCown to finally get Tampa on the board with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Chris Owusu. The play was set up by a roughing the passer penalty on safety Thomas DeCoud.

Tampa Bay quickly got the ball back and drove right down the field to score again, this time on a quick six-yard pass to Bobby Rainey.

Once again, Tampa's defense shut down Carolina's offense and got the ball back. However, Luke Kuechly came through as the hero, forcing a fumble that was recovered by rookie cornerback Bene Benwikere. 

Kuechly finished the day with nine tackles and a sack to add to the game-winning forced fumble, which led to Graham Gano's second field goal of the day to make the final score 20-14.

The Panthers held the Bucs offense in check for most of the game before the Bucs' rally, intercepting two very bad passes from McCown and sacking him three times. McCown also fumbled twice, but the Bucs recovered both fumbles.

Aside from one 54-yard rush by Jorvorskie Lane, the Panthers did not allow the Bucs to get a run game going. Not counting Lane's rush, the Panthers allowed only 48 rushing yards, 27 of which came from McCown. They held Tampa's top running back, Doug Martin, to nine yards on nine carries.

Rookie wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin lived up to the hype that he was getting from making spectacular and clutch catches in the offseason and preseason, as he had six receptions for 92 yards and one very incredible touchdown catch with a Tampa defender draped all over him.

Tight end Greg Olsen was reliable as always, catching eight passes for 83 yards and a touchdown of his own.

The two weak points for Carolina, the offensive line and the secondary, both played very well. Safety Roman Harper and cornerback Antoine Cason each had an interception, and the offensive line gave up only one sack while getting the running lanes open for the Carolina running backs. DeAngelo Williams, who dyed his hair pink in honor of his late mother who passed away of breast cancer in May of this year, led the team with 72 rushing yards on 14 carries. The team had 113 rushing yards on 33 carries total.

The Panthers are now 1-0 and will face the Detroit Lions, who have not yet played at the time of this writing, in Carolina's home opener. The Bucs fall to 0-1 and will face the 0-1 St. Louis Rams at home.