CHARLOTTE — It's time to jump back into the division race. The Panthers (3-2, 1-0) currently lead the NFC South and will welcome the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-5, 0-0) for their first divisional game of the season.

The Panthers look to start divisional play 2-0 for the first time since 2022. They also look to start the season 4-2 for the 11th time in team history and the first since 2019. Dave Canales calls these moments championship opportunities, and if Carolina wants to repeat as division champs, Sunday is a big step in that direction.

These division games are always interesting, simply because the two teams know each other. Panthers coach Dave Canales and Bucs coach Todd Bowles also spent a year on staff together in 2023 and have faced each other twice a year the last two seasons, which amplifies that familiarity.

"It's a division opponent first and foremost," said Canales on Friday.  So, you know, we love those division games. They're very physical. It usually is battling, who has the ball last, and you're fighting and scratching.

"Being able to spend time with coach Bowles, being able to go against his defense, coach (Bowles), knowing what we're doing in different ways, trying to offset those things and use the information that we both might have. 
"They know that we know that they know that we know that they know," he joked. "And you got to go back and forth in different situations that way."

From Bucs quarterback questions to a humming Panthers offense, here are five things to watch as the Panthers take on the Bucs.

Panthers ready to face Baker

The Bucs have been plagued by quarterback uncertainty over the last four weeks because of an injury. Incumbent starter Baker Mayfield dislocated his throwing-hand thumb during Tampa Bay's Week 3 loss and did not practice until this week. Todd Bowles told reporters at the start of the week that Tampa Bay would move forward with game plans as if rookie Jalon Daniels were playing.

However, Mayfield's mere presence back on the practice field this week meant the Panthers were preparing for the veteran.

Why? Because they've met Baker Mayfield before and know what he'll push through to play.

"I feel like I know him pretty well, so I figure we'll see him on Sunday," Derrick Brown said on Thursday. "The only way he doesn't play is if they keep him out."

On Friday, the Bucs listed Mayfield as questionable, but Tampa Bay coach Todd Bowles told reporters the quarterback looked good to go.

Mayfield participated fully all week. He wore a glove during practice and will presumably wear one again in the game. The glove has a solid plate on the back to keep his thumb in place. According to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, a clubhouse attendant with the Tampa Bay Rays (Nick Bond) designed the glove. As the Rays prepare for the World Series, Bond tweaked a glove he'd created for baseball players to make one that would work for Mayfield's situation.

Before his injury, Mayfield had gone 61-of-96 (63.5 percent) for 615 yards through three games, with two touchdowns and two interceptions. He also rushed 11 times for 65 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

"He's a fighter," said Brown. "When he gets back in the pocket, things break down; he tries to run around and give his guys time to get open, or he'll try to go get the first down himself."

The Panthers might be able to take advantage with sacks. Mayfield took 13 sacks, which is in the Top 10 of the league overall, through his three game appearances, averaging over four a game.

If something changes and Mayfield can't play, the Bucs will turn back to Daniels. In the three weeks since he became the starter, the rookie has 110 scramble rushing yards, the third-most in the league over that span.

Since Week 4, Daniels has scrambled to run on a league-high 12.6 percent of his dropbacks. Opposing quarterbacks have scrambled to run on 8.3 percent of dropbacks against the Panthers (2nd-highest, an average raised greatly by Caleb Williams in Week 1), who have allowed 147 rushing yards on scrambles, fourth-most in the league, and two rushing touchdowns on scrambles, tied with the Giants for the most in the league.

Can Bryce keep it up? And how much do the tight ends help?

Bryce Young plays his 50th career start in the NFL on Sunday, and when he takes the first snap, he'll be only the fourth quarterback in Panthers history to start 50 games for the franchise.

"Man, I'm getting up there," joked Young this week.

But in the 40s and 50s, Young is finding his best ball.

He leads the NFL in yards per game (309.8) and would likely be much higher than seventh overall in total yards (1,549 yards) if not for an early bye that puts him one game behind everyone ahead of him. And he's shown no signs of slowing down, so until he does, we're going to believe he can keep this thing rolling.

The Bucs like to blitz behind an aggressive Bowles defense and have done so on 43.8 percent of passing plays this season, the third-highest in the league, while allowing a mere 6.1 yards per attempt (ninth fewest).

But Young thrives in the chaos, throwing for 593 yards against the blitz this season, the second-most in the NFL. He averages 8.9 yards per attempt against the blitz (fifth in the NFL) and has not thrown an interception when blitzed.

He's helped along thanks to a dynamic receiver duo in Tetairoa McMillan and Jalen Coker.

The Bucs prefer zone and have done so 79.7 percent of the time, 11th most in the NFL and the highest average of any team the Panthers will have faced this season.

Coker and McMillan have averaged 3.1 yards per route (seventh-most) and 3.0 yards per route (eighth-most) against zone coverage, respectively, making them the only pair of teammates to both rank in the top 10 in yards per route against zone.

McMillan has recorded 13 explosive receptions (15-plus yards) against zone, tied with Christian Watson and Mike Evans for the second-most and trailing only Jaxon Smith-Njigba (15). Coker has posted a 32.9 percent target rate against zone, third-highest among wide receivers.

But Sunday is also National Tight End's Day™ and Bryce Young has a contingent of tight ends that can open up a game. Darren Waller had two touchdowns in Week 2, and Tommy Tremble had two on Sunday against the Eagles. Mitchell Evans doesn't have a touchdown yet this season but does have six receptions for 66 yards.

Toward the end of the Panthers' Week 6 win in Philadelphia, the skill players on the field were mostly tight ends, as the deep unit closed out the game for the offense.

"Last game speaks for itself and what that room is able to do," bragged McMillan of the tight ends. "We got so many dudes, and that's part of the reason why we kept so many tight ends this year; they all can play, and they're a big part of this offense.

"I think everybody on offense will tell you that they do a lot of their dirty work and they don't get credit for it."

On Sunday, given the opportunities in the middle of the Bucs' defense, don't be surprised if the tight ends do get their credit on their special day.

Old faces, new places

When teams need to fill holes on their roster, they often turn to guys they already know well, say, from playing them twice a year in division games. So it's no surprise that two former Carolina starters ended up in Tampa Bay this season.

One of them won't be on the field Sunday to face his former team, though. Bucs (and former Panthers) linebacker Christian Rozeboom was placed on injured reserve this week with a finger injury.

But in the trenches, the Panthers offensive line will get to see another familiar face: A'Shawn Robinson.

When Robinson was in Carolina the last two years, he was on the side with Damien Lewis. But on Sunday, he'll line up over Robert Hunt.

"I mean, obviously I know what he's got, but it'll be fun," said Hunt. "It'll be a fun challenge. He's doing really well. Excited to see what the challenge holds."

Robinson also leads the Bucs in interceptions with two so far. That's more than he had in his previous 10-year career combined (he had one interception in 2017 and none since).

Dave Canales couldn't help but laugh when asked about his former defensive lineman's interception stat this week. But also offered insight into how Robinson has been able to take advantage of batted passes.

"Just opportunity," said Canales. "What I'll say about A'Shawn is, he plays with great effort, and he runs to the ball. Good things come to those who run. If you hustle and you show up and the ball pops up and you're available, you can make those plays. So I'm sure they're happy to have A'Shawn there, a great leader, great locker room guy, and that hustle, that energy is exactly what you want."

One familiar face the Panthers won't see on Sunday, though, is Mike Evans. The longtime Bucs receiver who inflicted his damage on Carolina over the years moved on to the San Francisco 49ers this offseason. It's reshaped this Tampa Bay wide receiver corps in a way the Bucs are still working to address.

Secondary facing an interesting WR corps

On that note, Evans' departure — while a celebration for every other defense in the NFC South — will inevitably change Tampa's wide receiver corps.

Tampa Bay has a young receiver in Emeka Egbuka, who received much of Evans' target share last season when the veteran was injured, and can handle a big portion of the workload. But Carolina won't be facing him this weekend. Tampa Bay ruled out Egbuka on Friday as he continues to recover from a concussion and knee injury.

Egbuka accounted for 43 percent of the Bucs' wide receiver targets through six games and 31 percent of their receiving yards.

Chris Godwin ranks second in franchise history in receptions (612), receiving yards (7,626), and touchdown receptions (41), but he hasn't had a game yet this season with more than 50 receiving yards, nor has he scored a touchdown. He is second on the team behind Egbuka, though, with 23 receptions for 216 yards.

It's perhaps why the Bucs passing offense is 30th in the league, averaging 164.8 yards per game through the air.

Tampa Bay hasn't had to pass much, though, instead riding the seventh-best rushing offense in the league, averaging 127.8 yards a game on the ground. It's led by Bucky Irving, who is averaging 75.3 yards a game rushing, and supplemented by the mobile quarterbacks (both Daniels and Mayfield).

"They run the ball downhill," noted Derrick Brown. "Bucky Irving back there…they got a very good system back there right now. So I mean we've got another challenge ahead of us to stop the run this week, and we look forward to it."

Added linebacker Devin Lloyd, "We've got a lot of respect for the offense and the playmakers they have on their team, skill group as well. So you have variety in the run game, and then they have skilled players that can be explosive, make guys miss and make plays, make explosive plays. So, you know, we're playing against a good offense that we have respect for, and we just have to do our job and execute."

After the Chicago Bears exploded for 291 rushing yards in Week 1, the Panthers defense has held teams to an average of 92.5 yards over the last four games. In the last two games, that number has been below 50 yards (46 yards against Detroit and 35 yards against the Eagles).

"I think our schedule is pretty much filled with all the really good running backs and all the scrambling quarterbacks," joked Brown. "So I mean, we get ready to face a new challenge every single week."

Chuba versus the Bucs defensive line

With each passing week, the Panthers are finding who they want to be and establishing an identity in the run game. Overall, they're 17th in the league on the ground, rushing for 108.8 yards per game. But over the last two weeks, that average has risen to 126.5 per game.

Much of that is thanks to Chuba Hubbard, sixth in the league, averaging 85.2 yards per game on the ground.

Most of Hubbard's production has been coming in the second half. Canales is fine with that. But he has asked and maintained that the running game become more efficient in the first half so the offense isn't forced to become one-dimensional.

"Yeah, that's the philosophy, and that's something that I was handed down from Pete (Carroll), and it was this belief that — he never was saying, 'Hey, we got to establish the run.' But the runs should be more efficient than they've been, and that's really what I'm looking for," explained Canales.

"Would I love explosive runs? Absolutely, those happen, but you really want that efficient run, so you're in second-and-normal, and you got your whole call sheet as a play caller just for everybody; when you're in that second-and-6 or less, you can pretty much call anything.

"That creates indecision on the defense. It creates an attacking mindset. When you start to get into the second-and-long, yes, you should run it some, but the best way to get halfback is to be able to pass the ball and do other things as well."

As Hubbard and the rush attack settle in throughout the game, the ground game is coming alive. By finding efficient runs in the first half, as they've done more and more in their last two wins, the Panthers know they can wear down a defense.

"It's kind of like this settling in where, how is this defensive front trying to play us today? Are they stunting a lot? Are they blitzing with the interior linebackers? Are they using edge pressure to attack you in the run game?" continued Canales.

"And once you kind of figure those things out, you come to the sideline, you troubleshoot, you continue to get better and better. My note to Brad is, by the end of this game, let's make sure we've run it well, and that's what's been happening: it's kind of gradually getting stronger, then all of a sudden you end up with 120, 150 yards by the end of it. That's great, when you have the balance early on, then you become more dangerous, more explosive because you can throw play actions and things like that."

Being able to do this will be paramount on Sunday. The Bucs boast the second-best rushing defense in the league, holding teams to 75.5 yards per game on the ground.