2020 Week #2 Carolina Panthers (1-0) vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (0-1)

[Long island EFL]

BUCS EDGE RIVAL PANTHERS IN WAR AS GILES SINKS PANTHERS WITH 100-YARD TD TO WIN THE GAME!

(August 10, 2020. Tampa, Florida). Division rivalry week wasn't just Week#1. This week features Matt "Zoo-York" Mulqueen's Carolina Panthers who have been right on the cuff of winning an NFC title, with one team standing in their way the past two NFC Championship Games ... the 2018 and 2019 back-to-back Long Island Electric Football Super Bowl XVI and Super Bowl XV Champion, Los Angeles Rams, who Carolina can't seem to figure out. Otherwise, the Panthers might very well be the second or third best team in this league, so Mulqueen has to get over-the-hump. Coach Mulqueen said, "That Rams team is built to win. Everyone in the league wants a piece of them, but they show up with a plan and it seems almost mystical the way they win.  When you are playing against them, they make so many adjustments that by the time you think it out, or even make a small mistake, they figure you out. Now, that's good coaching by Billy O'C, and I just need to better prepare my team. Just remember, third time is a charm."

Never fear because Mulqueen's Panthers are a group of offensive warriors and their defense is right where with the best of them. They just need to compete and test their level with a very challenging schedule ahead of them. With all the great coaches and teams in the league, Mulqueen will be in the playoffs with at least one of his teams, and as his experience grows, he will figure out the better coaches and teams. Mulqueen’s three other teams are Philadelphia (0-1), Kansas City (1-0), and Cleveland (1-1), all contenders.

Mulqueen's opponent, Tampa Bay Coach Joe Pizz on the other end is playing with one of his favorite running backs, Buccaneers Ricky Bell who he thinks can get the best of the Panthers. The Bucs will play the Panthers tough and the fireworks will go off early.  Pizz said, "With the Panthers we have to get an early lead and play them to our potential, but I have a few surprises in store with my plan for today's game.  Our front three of Selmon, Sapp and Culpepper I think are the right mix for DeShaun Foster and their offense. If we want to win the division we think it will be through Carolina for my Bucs." Pizz also coaches the Minnesota Vikings (0-1), New York Jets (0-1) and the New York Giants (1-0), who have a huge game at Chicago this week to face Paddy Brannigan's Bears. Pizz claims he has mastered the art of preparation.

Tampa Bay opened the game with an 83-yard kick return by Giles to the Carolina Panthers 17-yard line, smoking the Panthers special teams unit. Six plays later fullback Mike Alstott caught a 15-yard pass in the end zone for a touchdown with 3:41 left in the half to make the score 7-0, Bucs! This turned out to be a game of play-makers and great coaching as Coach Pizz' investment in LIEFL All-Pro Jimmy Giles who Pizz picked up in last year's Draft, payed off big for Tampa Bay! Giles has become his favorite go-to guy for the Buccaneers! 

Mulqueen has his own favorites. In response to the Bucs 7-0 lead, the Panthers emerging star fullback and return specialist Greg Jones, stepped up with a tremendous 100-yard touchdown run, silencing Tampa Bay and keeping the streak alive for Jones with another consecutive hundred yard explosive touchdown game to tie this game at 7-7, with 2:58 left to go in the half. Mulqueen says that Jones practices that kick-return 10 or 15 times a day consistently. Jones is quickly becoming one of the most dangerous players in the league for Carolina with the one-two punch of Jones and Foster, which makes the Panthers a team you can never ignore in the standings. Coach Mulqueen has prepared the double-threat of Jones and Foster as the play-makers vie for a title, but like all teams in the league, the teams who play well and perform on the road, are the teams who will be in the playoff picture come November. Considering the Panthers difficult schedule they have a huge mountain to climb with three more away games, including Minnesota (0-1), and a rematch of the 2019 NFC Wild Card Game on the road with Green Bay (1-0). Mulqueen's Panthers won that shootout against the great coach, Ed Viglietta's Packers, 42-20.

Jimmy Giles returned his second kick-off of 40 yards, but the Buccaneers struggled on the run and on a second-down pass play Carolina's DeShaun Foster made a tremendous tackle on Tight End Dave Moore, for Tampa Bay which prevented a Tampa Bay touchdown. Moore picked up 31 yards on the play. After two consecutive runs of three yards, Tampa Bay All-Pro running back Ricky Bell took it in from 18 yards out to put the Bucs ahead 14-7, with 9:01 left in the game!

Carolina drove all the way down field with a 60-yard return by the "Beast" Greg Jones. And on the 1st down from scrimmage DeShaun Foster put his magic to work with an end-around run around the right side of the field for a 39-yard pickup, and two plays later Foster scored a touchdown from a yard out, making the score 14-14 with 2:10 left in this exciting battle!

Tampa Bay was not finished yet. Coach Pizz promised a surprise. They saved their best for last and were ready for these Panthers. With the score tied at 14-14, Tampa Bay Buccaneers Jimmy Giles took an electrifying run back a hundred yards for the touchdown with Greg Jones in pursuit with 1:47 left to go in the game as the Buccaneers jumped ahead for good, 21-14!

As the clock ran down on the Panthers, Greg Jones ran back a 50-yard return on the Panthers last play of the game hoping for a miracle, but the Buccaneers knocked him out of bounds giving Tampa Bay a spectacular victory over the Carolina Panthers 21-17! All Coach Mulqueen could do was roll his eyes in the air with a clenched fist, watching his Panthers bow to division rival Tampa Bay on the Bucs home turf in a game the Panthers (1-1) will not forget.

Jimmy Giles, the big play-maker would be the difference in this rivalry! Giles finished the day with 223 yards and a hundred yard TD, and for Carolina's Greg Jones, he finished with 210 yards and a hundred-yarder, his second in two weeks. Coach Pizz said, "This might be one of my favorite wins because the Panthers are ranked and we are shooting for the division title with this team. We have come so close to making the playoffs the past few seasons and came up short. But, Giles has brought us to new heights and we expect to be there in November come playoff time where anything can happen. Our schedule will be a great test. Let's see if we can rise to the occasion." The last time Pizz brought the LIEFL #19-Ranked Bucs (66-86) to the playoffs was 2016, when they lost in the NFC Divisional Game to the Detroit Lions, 28-24. The Bucs are (12-9) and they have finished 2nd, 3rd, and 2nd in the division since then.

This may be a setback for the Panthers but they have to get ready for next week and the Los Angeles Chargers (0-1) in Los Angeles, and Tampa Bay (1-1) travels to Denver (1-1) to play the Broncos and the dangerous Terrell Davis, who has an AFC league leading 21-545 yards with 4-TD's for Denver. 

2020 NFC SOUTH	W	L	PF	PA	TDS	HOME	AWAY	DIV	CON	AFC
New Orleans (2-5)	1	0	17	14	2	1-0	0-0	1-0	1-0	0-0
Atlanta (3-4)	1	0	17	14	2	1-0	0-0	0-0	1-0	0-0
Tampa Bay (4-3)	1	1	35	34	5	1-0	0-1	1-1	1-1	0-0
Carolina (6-4)	1	1	31	28	4	1-0	0-1	0-1	0-1	1-0
Totals:	0	0	0	0	0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0	0-0

2020 BUCS NFC SOUTH DIVISION.doc 2020 PANTHERS NFC SOUTH DIVISION.doc