CHARLOTTE — From the opening drive — actually, the second snap — it was clear what the Buccaneers' game plan was against the Carolina Panthers' defense.

Run it, run it again, then run it some more. And they did, for 258 yards on the ground, as the Bucs routed the Panthers 43-13 to give Tampa Bay their first division win and make things even for the Panthers at 3-3.

Bucky Irving gained 15 yards on his first touch, a sign of things to come. By the end of that first drive, Irving had 47 rushing yards, 51 yards from scrimmage, and a touchdown.

"I mean, kudos to them. They got off to a really good start. Anytime on defense you start with a 14-play drive, and they score, that's not the tone you want to set for the rest of the game, and they fed off that momentum," said linebacker Bobby Okereke. "And we saw they had that momentum all day today.

"When you're not creating any negative plays, and you're allowing them to get three, four yards a carry, against an offense like that, it's tough."

That momentum built through the first half as the Bucs capitalized on multiple Panthers turnovers. By game's end, they had 20 points off turnovers, plus two more off a blocked PAT. With that cushion, and in an effort to protect quarterback Baker Mayfield's thumb, which was in a protective glove in his first action back since a Week 3 dislocation, Tampa Bay barely put the ball in the air all day.

"They threw the ball 11 times, think about that," posed defensive lineman Bobby Brown III. "Seven completions, four of them were screens."

Mayfield's 11 passing attempts were the second-fewest by a Panthers opponent in team history, trailing only seven thrown by Chicago in a 2017 matchup.

Asked if the defense did enough to force Mayfield to throw with a hampered hand, Brown admitted, "I mean, no, because if we did, that wouldn't be the result."

The result was 49 rushes, tied for the most by a Panthers' opponent ever, averaging 5.3 yards per carry. The 258 total rushing yards allowed are more than Carolina has allowed the last three games combined (213 total against the Browns, Lions, and Eagles).

"I thought they had a good scheme," admitted Okereke. "Some of the gap scheme stuff, some of the pullers, you know, getting to the edge, making the corners tackle.

"It's a multitude of things: tackling, not getting knocked back up front.  If everybody's just stalemates and you're fighting your block, the running back's going to fall forward for three or four yards, which is a positive play from the offensive standpoint."

Most of the damage came courtesy of Irving, who finished with 106 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries.

"Most of the season they're handing the ball to Bucky," pointed out defensive lineman Derrick Brown. "Be able to turn around and hand it to him. So I mean, you got to be able to stop it. He's elusive. He likes to get on the edge and be able to cut the ball back. So I mean just, you got to do a better job."

Added coach Dave Canales, "I liked our calls. We had good run calls to take care of some of that run game, and it just really came down to execution. It came down to guys fitting their gaps, setting their blocks, and then containing the running backs. (The Bucs) did a good job. I can't take that away from them, being patient with their runs and trying to find voids, but it is stuff we have to look at.

"It's stuff that we have to attack and something that we've made great strides in, but we can't have setbacks like this."

The Panthers, perhaps blessedly, have a quick turnaround. Within an hour of the game ending, guys were already in recovery and preparing for their Thursday night game against the Green Bay Packers. That squad now has their top running back, Josh Jacobs.

With this performance (and Week 1 against the Chicago Bears, which still stands as the most rushing yards Carolina has allowed this season), the Panthers know that until they prove they can stop the run again, teams will try it.

"Obviously they found something today, and it's a copycat league, so we got to stop the bleeding because teams are going to watch this film and try to exploit any weaknesses in our defense," said Okereke. 
"This was good for us. You just got to go back and learn from this tape," he continued. "Lessons learned for sure, just as we go and grow in understanding this defense, understanding how teams are going to attack us. Obviously we saw it one way that teams can attack us. So just learn from this outing so it doesn't happen again."

Added Canales, "Really, just let's get to the bottom of it. Let's be studs about it. Let's set your ego at the door and figure out what's going on with just some of the techniques that happened today.

"This is like after weeks of improvement, and guys playing ball better together, and then this happens, and again, let's credit the Bucs for a great game, a great game plan. Some variety in different types of run styles, gun under center, zone gap scheme, some different things like that.

"So, when that happens, we're going to see it again. So we got to look at it. We got to make sure we fix those things."