Luke Kuechly: Panthers couldn’t ‘lose three in a row’

Luke Kuechly was back from concussion protocol and feeling good Sunday.

And that went a long way toward helping the Carolina Panthers snap a two-game losing streak with a huge, 17-3 NFC South victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

‘We were able to come out and play well’

“You can’t lose three straight and you can’t lose the third one against a divisional team,” the middle linebacker told Steve Torre and Bill Lekas on the Sunday Drive. “But we were able to come out and play well.”

Kuechly played exceptionally well. He had eight tackles (including one for a loss), an interception, a fumble recovery, and knocked down a pass.

‘The front four did an excellent job of creating pressure’

“I think our guys just played as a group and I think the front four did an excellent job of creating pressure on the quarterback,” Kuechly said. “And the guys in the back, especially the three corners we had playing, did an excellent job of covering those receivers. And when you get pressure up front and the guys covering the back end, it makes our job as a linebacker a lot easier.”

He acknowledged that it was tough to watch the Panthers’ Week 7 loss against the Chicago Bears while he was in concussion protocol.

‘You understand that there’s a process to get back on the field’

“You want to be out there with the guys, but you understand that there’s a process to get back on the field,” Kuechly said. “And David Mayo stepped in last week and did a really good job. We’ve got a bunch of good guys on this team, so when a guy goes down another guy steps up and does a great job.”