The Tampa Bay Buccaneers got back on the winner's list with a 30-7 win over the New York Giants, moving to 5-6 on the year.
Up next for Todd Bowles' team is an NFC South matchup against the Carolina Panthers, and despite Dave Canales' team sitting at 3-8, this won't be a walk in the park for Tampa Bay.
Fresh from pushing the Kansas City Chiefs to the brink in a 30-27 loss, the Panthers will now try to put a serious dent into the Buccaneers' playoff hopes.
And if you thought that Bowles was taking his divisional opponents lightly, think again.
"It's an NFC South battle and all of them are going to be hard, none of them going to be easy," Bowles said on the subject of underestimating the Panthers. "I think Dave [Canales] has done an excellent job taking on that team and is taking over his personality right now. They're playing pretty good football, they missed some games here and there, but they're playing very good football. It's going to be a tough battle. I'm proud of him."
The Buccaneers came out of the bye week with their hair on fire in the dismantling of the Giants, and now a tough Panthers team is next on their schedule.
With a 2-1 record in their last three games, the Panthers have somewhat turned a corner under Canales after getting blown out for fun in the early stage of the season.
But now, they appear to be a more resolute team and will be welcoming Tampa Bay into their building, and a great chance presents itself to continue their positive trajectory.
On paper, the Buccaneers should be winning this game, but as we know, games aren't won on paper, so Bowles will have his team locked in to avoid what would be a nasty defeat.
