Panthers Feel Confident in Ability to Slow Down Tampa's Trio of Tight Ends
The Tampa Bay offense will present several challenges for the Panthers this weekend, but arguably the biggest is finding a way to slow down their tight ends.
The Bucs have not one, not two, but three quality tight ends that can make plays and be effective in run blocking and pass protection (O.J. Howard, Rob Gronkowski, Cameron Brate). With the tight end being a major strength of the offense, they will likely run a lot of 12 and 13 personnel and bully their way around up front.
Panthers rookie safety/linebacker Jeremy Chinn spoke on the Buccaneers trio of tight ends during Thursday's press conference.
"They have weapons at tight end. They're kind of two different types of tight ends, O.J. [Howard] is more of a receiving type and Gronk is more of a bully. They definitely mix it up. They just have a lot of weapons, but we have weapons too and we're just ready to go to battle."
In week one, Carolina held Darren Waller of the Raiders to just six receptions for 45 yards on eight targets. Although this week presents a whole different type of challenge, defensive coordinator Phil Snow likes the way they matchup vs Tampa's tight ends.
"We played three pretty good tight ends last week too and this league is full of good tight ends. I think every week you're going to have those issues. We could see three at a time in there, but they all have their own set of skills. They got the old veteran in Gronkowski and the other guys can run pretty well and move, so we'll have our hands full with those three guys. Fortunately, we have some guys that matchup decently against tight ends, but we'll see three tight end groups."
Head coach Matt Rhule echoed a similar sentiment earlier in the week and talked about which guys will be playing a role in those man-to-man matchups.
"They're great blockers, great route runners. They can play with two of them, they can play with three of them, they give you a lot of challenges. Much like last week, it'll be something we have to matchup with. We have guys like Shaq Thompson, Juston Burris, Jeremy Chinn, who we've trained to try to be able to play some man coverage vs some tight ends, but they have some great ones so it'll be a real challenge."
Last week, Gronkowski and Howard combined for just six receptions for 47 yards and one touchdown. The third tight end, Brate, did not record a catch. Although it wasn't the best showing for these three, they will be better in week two and be heavily involved in the Bucs' game plan.
