There are no more excuses for the Bucs defense.

Sure, the defense played well on Sunday against a JV Giants offense, but that’s no accomplishment.

Tomorrow against the Panthers, the opposing offense will be more legitimate – a decent offensive line, an established running back and a quarterback who is better than a third-stringer named Tommy DeVito.

So the Bucs have to prove themselves, albeit against an overall very weak offense.

The Panthers have limited weapons — they traded top receiver Diontae Johnson — and now their top tight end is injured. But they have experienced receivers in old man Adam Thielen (11 catches) and David Moore (19 catches). These guys can find space in soft zone coverage if the Bucs choose to continue the play-to-lose defense that has hurt the team so much this season.

Rookie receiver Xavier Legette leads the Panthers with 33 catches, but is still a very uncertain prospect.

Starting tomorrow, Joe sees a Bucs defense that will be 100 percent homegrown and pretty darn healthy for December of an NFL season.

Calijah Kancey, Vita Vea, Anthony Nelson and YaYa Diaby will likely start on defense for the Bucs. Linebackers Lavonte David and KJ Britt will be behind them, and the Todd Bowles-assembled secondary will have No. 1 and No. 2 cornerbacks Jamel Dean and Zyon McCollom on the field, with star safety Antoine Winfield , Mike Edwards and Christian Izien are probably safe/nickel with them.

Other draft picks like Logan Hall and Joe Tryon-Shoyinka (if healthy) will get plenty of snaps.

This is a healthy, experienced and entirely homegrown bunch that Bowles has molded. So few NFL teams can say that.

Tomorrow there is no room for excuses such as communication or injuries. This group is good enough to be average, which should be more than enough to support a strong Bucs offense.

In fact, an average defense should be enough to beat the woeful Panthers (twice), Raiders, Saints and Cowboys, five of the six teams still on the Bucs’ schedule.

If Todd Bowles can’t consistently provide average defense in this group, Joe will wave a white flag.

Ira Kaufman talks Panthers matchup and predictions, options/non-options for Todd Bowles and defensive benchmarks; Provides insight into the Fresh Pro Football Hall of Fame and more