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Bucs visit Carolina for Monday night football

The last time that the Carolina Panthers (4-4) took the field, and the final quarter of that game, are still a fresh memory. It is also a terrible memory for the team that allowed the Dallas Cowboys to score 25 fourth quarter points. The Panthers lost 35-14 and had a bye week last week, before their upcoming Monday night game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The team`s late game collapse, which included three turnovers in the final 10 minutes, came on October 29. "It?s a chance for us to go out there and redeem ourselves," fullback Brad Hoover said of the long wait until Monday`s game. "It?s an opportunity to show our fans that our last game was a fluke." The Panthers defense has not played up to expectations, allowing 100 rushing yards four times this season, losing all four. Their offense is only 26th in the league.

The Bucs, visiting for the first game of three scheduled for the next 11 days, is playing without quarterback Chris Simms, who ruptured his spleen in an earlier game against the Panthers. Simms is out for the season, and his replacement, rookie Bruce Gradkowski, while avoiding mistakes (a single interception in 186 attempts), has not been able to get the offense going. The Panthers have won six of the past seven meetings with the Bucs. Their 26-24 victory in the first game came off a winning 47 yard field goal with 2 seconds remaining.