If the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are to keep their season alive for at least one more week, they must find a way to defeat the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. 

The Bucs trail the Panthers by 2.5 games in the NFC South. If they lose and drop to 1-6, Tampa will be dead in the water, and all attention will turn to which Bucs the team trades before the NFL’s trade deadline on November 10. 

If the Bucs can pull off the upset on the road, they will be only 1.5 games back, with another division game against the Atlanta Falcons the following week. 

However, Tampa can’t afford to look ahead. Every bit of the Bucs’ focus must be on the Panthers, or the season will be over before Halloween. 

Here are my five keys to a Buccaneers’ victory over the Panthers: 

1. Get Baker Mayfield into an early rhythm: Mayfield will be making his return from a dislocated thumb after a three-game absence with the help of a protective glove that came from an unlikely source. 

Tampa must get Mayfield going early. If he can get into a rhythm from the start, it will knock off the rust and help him feel confident that his thumb is good to go. 

2. Lean on Chris Godwin Jr.: Tampa’s veteran wide receiver has gotten off to a slow start this season. He has only 23 receptions for 216 yards and has yet to score a touchdown. 

As noted by Greg Auman, Godwin has gone seven straight games without reaching 50 receiving yards. He hadn’t had a stretch of more than three such games since early in his rookie season of 2017. 

With Emeka Egbuka out this week, the Bucs will need to lean on Godwin to carry the load for the passing offense. 

3. Slow down Carolina’s passing attack: The Panthers boast an explosive passing offense. Quarterback Bryce Young is playing the best football of his career and is being mentioned as a dark-horse MVP candidate. 

Second-year WR Tetairoa McMillan already has 32 catches, and his 471 receiving yards are tied for 10th in the league despite Carolina already having its bye week. 

Tampa must find a way to slow down Carolina’s pass game. The Bucs’ secondary, especially cornerbacks Zyon McCollum and Jacob Parrish, has been excellent this season. They have already had success against star WR duos Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison, and CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens. 

The secondary must step up again and should get a boost from the return of Benjamin Morrison, who has missed Tampa’s last three games. 

4. Score touchdowns: All season, the Bucs have had a huge issue finishing drives with touchdowns. Far too often, Tampa has had to settle for field goals, and it has cost them dearly. 

All five of Tampa’s losses have been by one score, and several could have been victories had Tampa been able to get into the end zone. 

5. Take care of the ball: It’s very simple: when the Bucs take care of the ball, their chances of winning go up exponentially. 

In their only victory over the Dallas Cowboys, the Bucs forced three turnovers and committed none. 

Mayfield, in particular, has had an issue with turnovers. He lost three fumbles in Tampa’s season-opening loss. Tampa's franchise QB has also thrown two interceptions this season before suffering his injury late in Week 3. 

If the Bucs want to beat the Panthers, they have to win the turnover battle.