Brady, Bucs look to rebound from lopsided loss vs. Carolina

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Carolina Panthers are expecting to see a highly motivated Tom Brady on Sunday.

Brady and the Buccaneers are looking to bounce back after an embarrassing 38-3 loss to the New Orleans Saints last Sunday night on national television, a total team collapse that coach Bruce Arians called “shocking.”

It was the most lopsided loss of Brady’s career, with the six-time Super Bowl champion throwing three interceptions for the first time in nearly a decade and held out of the end zone despite a talented supporting cast that includes Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown, Rob Gronkowski, Ronald Jones and Leonard Fournette.

Arians is well aware that a defeat of such magnitude can affect a team’s confidence.

But he’s confident it won’t as the Bucs (6-3) look to get right against the struggling Panthers (3-6), who have lost four straight and will again be without running back Christian McCaffrey, who is recovering from a shoulder injury.

“I don’t think our confidence is shaken one bit,” Arians said.

Brady was noticeably frustrated throughout the game, but pointed the finger at himself afterward saying “everyone’s got to do a lot better, and it starts with me.”

“Learn from it. You don’t bury your head in the sand — you own it,” Arians said.

The Buccaneers beat the Panthers 31-17 in Week 2, but Carolina seemed to solve Brady and the Bucs passing game in the second half — something that could bear watching on Sunday.

Panthers rookie defensive tackle Derrick Brown said he’s not worried about seeing an extra motivated Brady on Sunday.

“We have lost four games in row, so if you don’t think we’re plenty motivated too then something is wrong with that,” Brown said. “You can be (ticked) off all you want, but at the end of the day you have two (ticked) off teams coming in ready to battle each other.”

Things to watch between the Buccaneers and Panthers:

REPLACING McCAFFREY

Mike Davis returns to a starting role in the backfield with McCaffrey out. In his first three fill-in starts this season Davis amassed 351 yards and three touchdowns, but was limited to 167 yards and one touchdown in his last three.

Davis will have his work cut out for him this week against the NFL’s top-ranked run defense. Despite yielding more than 100 yards on the ground to the Giants and Saints the past two weeks, the Bucs continue to lead the league in rushing defense at 75.3 yards per game.

The Panthers rushed for 87 yards on 24 attempts in the first meeting between the teams, with McCaffrey running for 59 yards and two TDs. Davis’ playing time came mostly late in the fourth quarter after McCaffrey went down with a high ankle sprain, and he finished with eight catches for 74 yards.

Last week the team tried Dennis Daley there for most of the game, but he got dinged up and the team turned to Greg Little and Trent Scott. The Panthers managed to score 31 points against the Chiefs, but the reality is that until the position is solidified they will continue to struggle keeping Bridgewater on his feet. Coach Matt Rhule is hopeful Daley will be able to play this week against the Bucs.

“Just throw it to him,” Arians said when asked what can be done to get Evans more involved in the offense. “The key is where the quarterback reads it out. Some guy may be open on this side, but the coverage tells him to go to the other side.”

Evans has 34 receptions for 437 yards and seven TDs through nine games.