Carolina Panthers: 5 Bold predictions vs. Buccaneers, Week 2
2. Burns notches first career sack, dominates
The box score doesn’t tell the whole story of how effective Panthers first-round pick Brian Burns was in his NFL debut. He still had a solid statistical outing, garnering two total tackles, one tackle for loss and two QB hits. However, he was in the backfield often as a pass rusher, which makes sense given that he may be the best pure pass rusher in the 2019 rookie class.
Last week against San Francisco, the Buccaneers offensive line struggled outside of Ali Marpet. That should provide Burns with a good matchup on Thursday night and let him really announce his arrival in a big way. He’ll get the first sack of his young NFL career and will provide plenty more pressure than that throughout the night.
1. McCaffrey goes for 200+ again
Despite the fact that Carolina’s offensive line was questionable last week, that didn’t stop Christian McCaffrey from going off. Rams tacklers were bouncing off the star running back all day in Week 1 and he produced 128 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries while also finishing as the Panthers’ leading receiver, going for 10 catches and 81 yards.
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Even against a lesser Bucs pass rush, Newton will still be under duress in this game, as mentioned. Subsequently, that means a boatload of touches for McCaffrey again and he’ll produce in a big way once more. The running back has the talent to really make a lacking Tampa linebacker corps, including young Devin White, pay in space and will do so by notching 200 or more all-purpose yards for the second straight week.