Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers Clash in Week 1 - NFL Preview
The first week of the National Football League (NFL) 2012 season is throwing up some exciting matchups.
On Sunday September 9, Carolina Panthers will face off against Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the two National Football Conference (NFC) South rivals duke it out to get their season off to a winning start.
Both teams this year will be looking to challenge for the playoff spots after ending the previous three regular seasons at the bottom of the NFC South divisions.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will hope that new head coach Greg Schiano’s big moves for players during the offseason will pay off as the franchise looks to improve after ending the previous regular season with a poor 4-12 record while losing 10 straight games
in a row.
Carolina Panthers on the other hand will be looking to pick up their performances from last year when they ended up with a 6-10 record and hope that quarterback Cam Newton can continue his brilliant performances to push them into the playoffs.
Both sides on paper at least have an equal chance of winning the game.
Schiano will hope that his head coaching debut will end with a win after he spent the majority of the offseason bringing in experienced players while also signing up many of his former Rutgers University players.
This is a strong test for the rookie head coach who has received much praise during preseason for installing discipline back in the Buccaneers roster.
Schiano’s hopes will rest on quarterback Josh Freeman who will look to put behind his poor performance in the previous season and get back to the form he displayed in 2010.
Freeman ended the 2010 season with an impressive 25 touchdown passes and just six interceptions while in 2011 his form regressed considerably along with the rest of the roster as he passed for 16 touchdowns but was intercepted a shocking 22 times.
"I have an awful taste in my mouth from last season," Freeman said according to
ESPN. "It's something I don't ever want to ever have happen again."
Defensively too the Buccaneers look better this year around as Schiano has inculcated a hard working mentality into the roster and he will be hoping that all his hard work on the defence will pay off against a scary Carolina Panthers offence.
Carolina Panthers on the other hand are expecting a great season in 2012-13 and have been touted by many analysts to push on into the playoffs this year.
Panthers quarterback Cam Newton who will shoulder much of the responsibility to lead his side to the playoffs said:
"I think the whole vibe around this team is different this year. There's a sense in the air that everybody is anticipating something great is going to happen and that's exciting."
Newton was massive for the Panthers last season after breaking a number of NFL records and with a preseason under his belt he is expected to get even better and will be supported by a talented Panthers receiving corps.
Defence remains their weak point but they will have the support of their offence that on its day can outscore much better opponents than the Buccaneers.
This will be an exciting matchup between two teams looking to end their disappointing runs over the previous seasons and fans can expect fierce battles.
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