It was Derek Anderson’s job Sunday to keep the Panthers’ playoff hopes alive. He did just that.

Filling in for Cam Newton against the Bucs for the second time this year, Anderson avoided big mistakes and did enough to lead Carolina to its first win streak since the opening two weeks of the season.

“It wasn’t perfect by any means. I know I missed some things, but I’m happy about the win,” Anderson said.

“Efficiency-wise I feel like I could have been better. I had a great week of practice. I felt good coming in. Last night I didn’t sleep. I was confident in what I was going to do, and at times, I think I may have been a little over confident.”

Anderson was 25-of-40 passing for 277 yards and threw a 2-yard touchdown to receiver Jerricho Cotchery for the go-ahead score early in the third quarter. In his two starts, Anderson has completed 49 of his 74 passes for 507 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions.

“He did a tremendous job,” said tight end Greg Olsen, who equaled his career high with 10 receptions for 110 yards. “We made that a lot harder than it needed to be. I thought D.A. did a good job. We were a little sloppy, and we needed to be better and we let them hang around.”

In his two games with Anderson, Olsen has caught 18 of his 24 targets for 193 yards. Olsen and receiver Kelvin Benjamin were each targeted 13 times apiece. Benjamin, who had six receptions for 92 yards and a touchdown with Anderson Week 1, caught eight passes for 104 yards Sunday.

“We just tried to be there for D.A. and just try to be there for the offense, get us moving down the field to put points on the board,” Benjamin said.

The disappointing part of Anderson’s performance was how few points the offense scored despite an average field position that started at the Panthers’ 40-yard line. Not counting a kneel down on the game’s final possession, all 10 of Carolina’s drives ended up on Tampa Bay’s side of the field, including three that started in Bucs’ territory. But somehow, the Panthers scored just 19 points.

“I wanted more from Derek,” coach Ron Rivera said. “Derek is a very capable football player, and he knows it. We talked about it during the game. He knows he could have put some more points on the board.”

Anderson said nerves weren’t what kept him up Saturday night, but he was intead running through plays and seeing visuals in his head. He fell asleep watching the Golf Channel.

It’s too early to tell if Newton will be well enough to play against the Browns next week, but since that game matters for the Panthers, Anderson did his job this week, even if it was ugly at times.

“Ultimately that’s the goal, to win,” Anderson said. “If you win by forty or your win by two, it doesn’t matter.”

---

---