Can Panthers Move to 4-2 Against Buccaneers This Week?

The Carolina Panthers will be entering Week 7 of the NFL season looking to improve their record to 4-2 on the year.

The Panthers were able to come away with a win last week against the Philadelphia Eagles, showing focus coming off a bye. Now, Carolina is heading home for a big divisional matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Buccaneers are coming into the game with a record of 1-5 on the year, but this team will have its starting quarterback, Baker Mayfield, returning in this contest. Mayfield coming back could give Tampa Bay a major boost, but the Panthers are still being favored to win.

Experts from NFL.com picked the winner of the game between Carolina and Tampa Bay for the week. Jeremy Bergman, Brooke Cersosimo, Gennaro Filice, Bobby Kownack, and Dan Parr all made picks, with four of the five taking the Panthers to win.

Only Bergman went with the Buccaneers to take down Carolina, showing faith in this Panthers team to get the job done. With the game being played at home, and a shaky Tampa Bay team in place, the Panthers should be able to take care of business this week.

Entering this game, the Panthers have looked like a very solid team in the NFC, with the offense leading the charge fully. Behind strong play from quarterback Bryce Young, the Panthers have generated the fourth-best scoring offense, coming in at 29.2 points per game in the NFL entering the week.

Young's emergence this year has been incredible to see for the Panthers, answering all sorts of questions that the team had around him. The signal-caller has placed himself into the MVP discussion this season, and it has helped Carolina become an even better team.

For the year, Young has thrown for 1,549 yards with 11 touchdowns and two interceptions, playing in five games. For the Panthers, if Young can keep up this type of production, they can matchup well against any team in the NFL.

This group has its eyes set on getting back to the playoffs, and winning games against teams like the Buccaneers can help. As long as Carolina doesn't overlook this Tampa Bay group, moving to 4-2 should be in the cards.

But in the NFL, anything can happen in a given game, so the Panthers must avoid the letdown by taking Tampa Bay seriously. Kickoff for the game between the two sides is set for 10:00 a.m. PT/1:00 p.m. ET.