Until Sunday, Bradley Bozeman’s action for the Carolina Panthers had consisted of 20 special-teams plays across six games. But in the Panthers’ 21-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the former Handley High School and Alabama standout went all the way at center for Carolina.

The Panthers had a 1-5 record entering Sunday’s game. Carolina fired coach Matt Rhule on Oct. 10, traded wide receiver Robbie Anderson on Monday after he’d shouted at a coach on the sidelines during the previous day’s game, shipped former All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday and played without quarterbacks Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold.

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“We’ve just been focused on trying to win,” Bozeman said after the game. “Not focused on everything else around us, and just, like I said, leaning into each other and just trying to drive forward and just be the team that we can be. People go and come every single day. That’s part of this business, so we just have to figure out a way to continue to truck along and get the win. And we did that today.”

Quarterback P.J. Walker threw for 177 yards and two touchdowns after having only 60 passing yards in his first start of the season – last week’s 24-10 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. D’Onta Foreman gained 118 yards on 15 rushing attempts and Chuba Hubbard had 63 yards and one touchdown on nine carries as Carolina ran for 173 yards against the Buccaneers.

“Next man up,” Panthers linebacker Shaq Thompson said after the game. “Opportunities are waiting for anybody, and I think Foreman and Chuba did a great job. I think Bozeman and the whole offensive line did a great job — You know what I mean? — missing Pat Elflein. And I think P.J. did a hell of a job, controlling the whole day and getting these guys going.”

The 173 rushing yards marked a season high for Carolina.

“It was just great to come in and get the run game going like we did and do the things that we did,” Bozeman said.

A sixth-round choice in the 2018 NFL Draft, Bozeman became the Baltimore Ravens’ starting left guard in his second season. After holding that spot for two seasons, Bozeman shifted to center in 2021.

Bozeman joined the Panthers as a free agent in March. But after starting his final 48 games with the Ravens, Bozeman ended up as Elflein’s backup in Carolina after he sustained an ankle injury during a joint practice with the New England Patriots on Aug. 17 and missed almost two weeks of preseason work.

On Saturday, the Panthers placed Elflein on injured reserve with a hip problem.

Carolina’s trade of McCaffrey sparked concern the Panthers had thrown in the towel on the 2022 season and had set their sights on the first pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

“I’m extremely proud of the men in that locker room,” said Steve Wilks, who took over for Rhule. “I just told them that they continue to impress me by the way they just overcome adversity and circle the wagons and come together. That definitely wasn’t a team out there that was trying to tank.”

Although Carolina has just two wins, those victories have come in the Panthers’ two NFC South games. No team in the division has a winning record. The Bucs and Atlanta Falcons are 3-4, and the New Orleans Saints are 2-5 like Carolina.

The Panthers play the Falcons at noon CDT Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.