Carolina's two-game win streak collides with a one-win Tampa Bay club in Charlotte.
The Carolina Panthers enter Week 7 at 3-2 and have won two straight. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers sit at 1-5 and are riding a one-game losing streak.
Game details
| When | Sunday, October 25, 2026 at 1:00 PM ET |
| Where | Bank of America Stadium |
| TV | Fox |
| Line | Carolina Panthers -3 | O/U 44.5 (market view) |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers record | 1-5 |
| Carolina Panthers record | 3-2 |
The matchup
According to the NFL's game notes, Carolina quarterback Bryce Young is chasing a seventh straight game with a touchdown pass and a sixth consecutive outing with 280 or more passing yards. Young threw for 281 yards and two touchdowns for a 91.9 rating in Week 6, part of a stretch in which he's thrown multiple touchdown passes in five of his past six games.
Tampa Bay heads into this one off a Week 6 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, 19-26, after beating the Dallas Cowboys 24-16 the week before that. The series has plenty of history, too — Carolina leads the regular-season series 26-25, though Tampa Bay has won six of the past seven meetings.
Key matchups
Chuba Hubbard carries the load for Carolina after running for 120 yards and a touchdown in Week 6, and he's aiming for a fourth straight game with 110 or more scrimmage yards. Tampa Bay's front will need linebackers Josiah Trotter and David Walker, who posted a career-high two sacks last week, to slow him down.
On the other side, Bucky Irving has given Carolina trouble historically — he's posted 70 or more scrimmage yards in each of his four career games against the Panthers and is chasing a third straight road game with 90-plus scrimmage yards and a touchdown. He'll work behind a line that just lost offensive tackle Luke Goedeke to a calf injury. Watch Carolina's Tetairoa McMillan too, who caught six passes for 86 yards in Week 6 and has topped 75 receiving yards in five of his past six games. Veteran receiver Chris Godwin Jr. has feasted on Carolina before as well, piling up 63 receptions for 863 yards and two touchdown catches in 13 career games against the Panthers.
Carolina's linebacker duo of Devin Lloyd and Bobby Okereke brings the pressure up front — Lloyd has a sack in two of his past three games and is chasing a fourth straight with a tackle for loss, while Okereke has racked up six or more tackles in 17 of his past 18 outings. That duo will be facing a Tampa Bay quarterback dealing with a thumb injury.
Injuries that matter
Tampa Bay's injury report is the bigger concern. Safety Antoine Winfield Jr. is out with a rib injury, receiver Emeka Egbuka is out with a concussion, and offensive tackle Luke Goedeke is out with a calf injury. Quarterback Baker Mayfield is questionable with a thumb injury. Linebacker Christian Rozeboom did not practice, though the team hasn't attached a game status to that report yet.
Carolina has its own absences up front. Linebacker Jaelan Phillips is out with a hamstring injury and linebacker Thomas Incoom is out with a calf issue. Linebacker Bam Martin-Scott is questionable with a hamstring injury, and offensive tackle Monroe Freeling is questionable with a knee injury.
Fantasy angles
Bryce Young projects as the top play in this game at 20.0 DraftKings points, riding his touchdown-pass streak into Sunday. Chuba Hubbard isn't far behind at 18.5 points after his 120-yard, one-touchdown outing last week. Tetairoa McMillan projects for 16.0 points and has been steady, topping 75 receiving yards in five of his past six games. On the Tampa Bay side, Bucky Irving still carries value at 12.0 points given his track record against Carolina, and Jalen Coker rounds out the group at 13.0 points after a team-high 97 receiving yards in Week 6.
The pick
Carolina is favored by 3.0 points with a total of 44.5, and the market projects a 24-21 Panthers win. Carolina's two-game win streak, Bryce Young's scoring streak, and a less-banged-up roster make the Panthers the sharper side at home.
Injury report
| Player | Team | Pos | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Antoine Winfield Jr. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | S | Out |
| Baker Mayfield | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | QB | Questionable |
| Emeka Egbuka | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | WR | Out |
| Luke Goedeke | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | OT | Out |
| Christian Rozeboom | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | LB | Did not practice (no game status yet) |
| Bam Martin-Scott | Carolina Panthers | LB | Questionable |
| Jaelan Phillips | Carolina Panthers | LB | Out |
| Monroe Freeling | Carolina Panthers | OT | Questionable |
| Thomas Incoom | Carolina Panthers | LB | Out |
Projected starters
| Pos | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Carolina Panthers |
|---|---|---|
| QB | Baker Mayfield | Bryce Young |
| RB | Bucky Irving, Kenny Gainwell | Chuba Hubbard, AJ Dillon |
| WR | Emeka Egbuka, Chris Godwin Jr., Ted Hurst III | Tetairoa McMillan, Jalen Coker, Brycen Tremayne |
| TE | Cade Otton | Tommy Tremble |
Recent results
| Team | Last games |
|---|---|
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Wk6 L 19-26 vs Pittsburgh Steelers, Wk5 W 24-16 vs Dallas Cowboys, Wk4 L 14-17 vs Green Bay Packers |
| Carolina Panthers | Wk6 W 25-14 vs Philadelphia Eagles, Wk4 W 32-26 vs Detroit Lions, Wk3 L 18-21 vs Cleveland Browns |
Written by Rhett Zone, an AI analyst, from News Hub Fantasy data (schedule, scores, box scores, injuries and depth charts). A second AI checked every claim against that data before it was published. Read how we use AI in our editorial standards.