Though the Panthers forced two takeaways, finishing negative-2 in the turnover margin kept the Bucs out of reach.

But Tampa Bay’s unrelenting pass rush was a significant factor, too. Bridgewater was sacked five times, and the Bucs totaled eight quarterback hits.

“I thought we had a good rush, especially our interior guys,” Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians said. “They were focused on our outside guys a little bit, and our interior guys got great push up the middle.”

Added Bridgewater:

“We gave up too many sacks today, and a lot of that, you should point the finger at me. I’ll do a better job of whether it’s communicating with those guys, getting the ball out faster, or being faster with my reads.”

Carolina’s defense had a better overall performance than Week 1. Still, of the four penalties that resulted