Panthers Stock Report: Finding Winners After Sunday's Disaster Wasn't Easy

Finding guys for the stock-up side wasn't exactly easy this week.

That's what happens when you lose 43-13 at home to Tampa Bay. The Panthers turned it over four times, gave up 258 yards on the ground and were down 33-6 at halftime. There were plenty of options for stock down. Stock up took a little more work.

Stock up: Darren Waller

I'm bending the rules a little with Darren Waller because he caught one pass. But when that one pass goes for a 50-yard touchdown in a game where almost nothing else worked offensively, I'll allow it.

It was a really nice play, too. Waller got behind the defense, Bryce Young put the ball where it needed to be and suddenly Carolina had its first touchdown of the afternoon. Of course, Tampa Bay blocked the extra point and returned it for two, so the good feeling didn't last very long.

My bigger question is why Waller only got one target. I know Young was under pressure most of the afternoon, but Waller has shown he can still make plays down the field. If the Panthers are going to have him out there, I'd like to see them find a way to get him more involved.

Stock up: Anthony Tyus III

Look, the game was over when Anthony Tyus III scored. Everybody knew it, but I'm still putting him here.

Tyus got six carries and finished with 28 yards, including a 12-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. It was his first NFL touchdown, and I don't really care that Carolina was down 37 points when it happened. That's still a pretty cool moment for a rookie.

I'm also getting curious about what Tyus could do with a few more touches. I'm not saying he needs 15 carries next week, but six carries for 28 yards isn't bad. Give him a few more opportunities and see what happens.

Stock down: Bryce Young

We've talked a lot about Young looking different this season. He had been taking better care of the football, making plays when Carolina needed them and starting to look a lot more comfortable running the offense. None of that was there Sunday.

Young finished 14-of-27 for 163 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He also lost a fumble that Calijah Kancey returned for a touchdown. That's three turnovers from your quarterback in a game where Carolina couldn't afford to give Tampa Bay anything extra.

The offensive line was bad, too. Young was sacked five times and spent way too much of the afternoon trying to get away from pressure. I'm not putting everything that happened on him, but some of those decisions were his, and this was easily the worst we've seen him play this season.

I'm not changing my opinion of Young because of one game. He was bad Sunday, and both things can be true.

Stock down: The run defense

This one annoyed me more than anything else Sunday.

I thought Carolina had finally figured some things out on defense. After Chicago ran for 291 yards in the opener, the Panthers had gotten much better against the run and had allowed only 81 rushing yards combined over the previous two games.

Then Tampa Bay came in and ran for 258. Bucky Irving went for 106 yards and two touchdowns, Kenny Gainwell had 88 and Sean Tucker added another 52. The Buccaneers ran the ball 49 times, so it wasn't like Carolina didn't know what was coming.

Baker Mayfield threw 11 passes all afternoon. That's it. Tampa Bay basically spent the day saying, "We're going to run it again," and Carolina never gave them much reason not to.

That's what would worry me going into Green Bay. The Packers are going to watch this film, and I have a pretty good idea what they're going to want to test first.

Stock down: David Moore and the special teams

David Moore's muffed punt was one of those plays where you could almost feel the game starting to get away from Carolina.

Tampa Bay recovered at the Panthers' 18 and turned it into a field goal. The defense actually did its job there and kept the Buccaneers out of the end zone, but Carolina was already having enough problems without handing Tampa Bay the ball in scoring range.

Then came the blocked extra point after Waller's touchdown. Zyon McCollum took it the other way for two points, turning what should've been Carolina's first real reason to feel good into another Tampa Bay celebration.

I thought about putting Moore here by himself, but that felt a little unfair. Sunday wasn't one guy having a bad day on special teams. It was another part of the team making mistakes on an afternoon where mistakes were already everywhere.

I could probably keep going with the stock-down list, but you get the point. Not much went right Sunday, and the Panthers have a short week to make sure one really bad game doesn't turn into two.

Add us as a preferred source on Google