The Thursday Night Football matchup in Week 8 will be the Carolina Panthers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a matchup of division rivals at Raymond James Stadium in a game that will air live on the NFL Network starting at 8:25 PM and will kick off the league schedule ahead of the trade deadline.
The Panthers are coming into the game after a very nice win over the St. Louis Rams and now the team is 3-3 on the season, which is the first time they have been at .500 at this point under Ron Rivera and that could mean a challenge for a wild card spot this season. Cam Newton is playing very well this year so far and the team appears to be rebounding nicely from the loss of offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski, as the offense is ranked in the top 10 in rushing and the team has been much more consistent than in past years.
Newton has looked the part this season and now the team is 2-1 in a stretch of three road games in four weeks, the last of which will come against the Tama Bay Buccaneers on Thursday night. If the team wants to get serious about making the playoffs, the game against the winless Buccaneers is a must-win, as the team is about to hit what could be a disastrous stretch on the schedule. After playing the Buccaneers, the team has a tough home matchup against the Atlanta Falcons, never easy and then they have to make the cross country trip to play the San Francisco 49ers and that is a game they will not be favored in. Adding even more pressure to that stretch, the third game will be against the New England Patriots and while that game is at home, it's no easy feat taking down Tom Brady, especially with him getting Rob Gronkowski back.
The Panthers have won two straight games in dominating style with at least 30 points in both contests and they allowed just 25 points over the past two games and one reason has been the defense, which is much improved this year. The team is ranked in the top five in both passing and rushing yards allowed per game and they are keeping opponents to just under 90 yards on the ground this season. The team opened 1-3 and now it appears that final stretch of going 6-3 last season was no fluke.
Newton has been solid with 10 touchdowns and 1,300 yards passing, while DeAngelo Williams has been carrying the load with Jonathan Stewart out, gaining over 400 yards this year. Steve Smith and Greg Olden have four touchdowns combines and Olden is leading the team with 339 yards while Smith has the most receptions by one with 28.
The rest of the schedule is tough but it's not impossible, but the tough thing will be playing the Saints twice in the back end of the season, as they have an away matchup first and then three weeks later will host Drew Brees and company. The Saints appear to have the NFL south locked up already and those games could be crucial for clinching and by then the Panthers could cause some trouble for the playoff picture. The back end also features a road game against the Dolphins and a home game against the Jets and they will finish the season on the road against Atlanta.
The Thursday night game features the winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers hosting the Carolina Panthers at Raymond James Stadium in a game that will air at 8:25 pm on the NFL Network.