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CHARLOTTE Rock Ya-Sin Jersey , N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Panthers have stability at the quarterback position. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are desperately in search of the same.The teams appear headed in different directions entering an NFC South showdown Sunday in Charlotte — and quarterback play is a big reason why.Ryan Fitzpatrick replaces Jameis Winston, who was benched after committing 11 turnovers in his last 3 ½ games for the Buccaneers (3-4). With the former Harvard standout back at the helm, the Bucs are trying to rekindle some of the “Fitzmagic” that helped them to a 2-0 start that included a win over the New Orleans Saints.They’ve since lost four of their last five.“I think Jameis is one of the best quarterbacks in the world and I think he will be back,” Bucs coach Dirk Koetter said. “A lot of teams don’t switch because they have an untested backup or they’re afraid to put their backup in there — and we don’t have either of those. Right now, we just have to stop turning the ball over and so we’re going to go with Fitz.”Panthers coach Ron Rivera has never benched his franchise quarterback Cam Newton because of his performance.And he’s not about to this year.The Panthers (5-2) enter the game looking for their 10th straight home win behind Newton, who is playing his best football since earning league MVP honors in 2015 and leading Carolina to the Super Bowl. Newton has 17 combined touchdowns. He’s thrown only four interceptions all season — the same amount Winston threw in last week’s loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.Rivera said he realizes how lucky he is to have Newton at the helm.“It shows you how important it is to have a franchise quarterback and have the position stabilized,” Rivera said.PROLIFIC OFFENSEDespite the quarterback change, the Bucs are still first in the NFL in passing and total offense. They’ve thrown for 2,634 yards — the second-highest total through the first seven games of a season in NFL history behind the 2000 St. Louis Rams (2,637). They have 19 touchdown passes, third-most in the league behind Kansas City (26) and Indianapolis (23).Koetter concedes the Bucs, who are 28th in rushing at 91.3 yards per game, have evolved into a pass-first team.Panthers safety Eric Reid said Carolina is preparing the same way regardless of who is under center, noting that both QBs like to throw the ball deep.“Their offense runs the same with both guys,” Reid said.NEWTON’S SHOULDERRivera didn’t appear concerned about Newton’s right shoulder, even though the eighth-year QB has been limited in practice the last two weeks. In fact, Newton declined last week to throw a Hail Mary pass just before halftime, telling the coaches he didn’t feel comfortable doing that. That might explain, in part, why Newton hasn’t attempted many passes down the field this season.However, Koetter said he doesn’t see anything wrong with Newton’s arm strength.“Man if he’s got a sore arm http://www.clevelandbrownsteamonline.com/anthony-zettel-jersey , I’d hate to see the real deal,” Koetter said. “Cam has always had a cannon. He can stand flat-footed and put that thing on a line. I’ve been in this division a long time, and arm strength is probably about the 159th thing on the list that you’d be worried about with Cam.”PROTECTING CAMThe Bucs will make it a priority pressure Newton, but that hasn’t proven easy to do this season.Newton has been sacked a league-low 10 times because he’s getting the ball out quicker playing in new coordinator Norv Turner’s scheme and the patchwork offensive line is “protecting Cam better than he ever has been before,” Rivera said.Newton said while a lot of people think Carolina’s offensive line is made up of “misfits and undesirables,” he added “those guys have been playing lights out.”FAST STARTDefensive end Jason Pierre-Paul has a sack in a Bucs franchise-record six consecutive games. With eight of the team’s 16 sacks through seven games, he’s nearly halfway to the career-best 16 ½ he had for the New York Giants when he was an All-Pro in 2011. Tampa Bay, which acquired Pierre-Paul in an offseason trade, hasn’t had a player finish with 10 or more sacks since Simeon Rice in 2005.“I am so excited about what Jason’s brought to us,” defensive coordinator Mark Duffner said. “He practices hard, he prepares hard. This guy is on a mission and it’s been beautiful to see and be around.”MORE OF MOOREThe Buccaneers can expect to see a heavy dose of speedy rookie wide receiver D.J. Moore. With Torrey Smith out with a knee injury last week against Baltimore, Moore took advantage of his increased playing time and led the Panthers with 90 yards receiving and added 39 yards rushing on two carries. Smith is out this Sunday, too. No-hitter or not, Mike Soroka knew the Braves would be cautious and not let him overexert his right shoulder.

”The first time I even thought about what was going on was going out for the sixth,” he said. ”It was happening so quickly. You get into a rhythm that way, and that wasn’t bad as well.”

Soroka did not allow a hit until the seventh inning, Freddie Freeman homered and drove in both runs, and the Atlanta Braves beat the struggling New York Mets 2-0 on Wednesday.

Soroka, the youngest pitcher in the major leagues and one of baseball’s top prospects, returned from a shoulder strain that sidelined him since May 17 to outpitch NL ERA leader Jacob deGrom in a game that lasted only 2 hours, 12 minutes.

Making his fourth career start http://www.detroitlionsteamonline.com/jahlani-tavai-jersey , Soroka (2-1) gave up one hit, one walk and struck out four in 6 1/3 innings . He had a simple game plan.

”Pitch my game and let them adjust to my game as opposed to the other way around,” Soroka said. ”I think we did a really good job of that.”

Freeman, the NL batting leader, has hit safely in 23 of his past 24 games. He drove in the first run with a single in the fourth off deGrom (4-2). He homered off Jeremy Blevins in the eighth .

Freeman has five homers in his past seven games and 14 overall.

Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said that Soroka would be on a pitch count, so it was no surprise when he replaced him with A.J. Minter after Michael Conforto singled to begin the seventh after 74 pitches.

The Mets have lost 10 of their past 11 and 17 of their past 21. They went 3-6 at SunTrust Park this season against the NL East-leading Braves.

DeGrom (4-2) allowed seven hits and one run and struck out seven in seven innings and threw 86 pitches. He began the game leading with majors with a 0.81 ERA since April 21, but trailed 1-0 in the fourth when Dansby Swanson doubled with one out and scored on Freeman’s single.

The punchless Mets have scored 10 runs in their past 87 innings. They’ve lost deGrom’s past five outings even though he’s allowed only five runs over that span.

”He threw seven really stressful innings, especially the last couple of innings,” New York manager Mickey Callaway said. ”He had to grind thorough there and did a great job of keeping us in the game and giving us a chance to win like he does every time.”

Conforto moved to second on a wild pitch by Soroka in the seventh, but didn’t advance when Minter struck out Brandon Nimmo and Jay Bruce popped up. Soroka’s other base runner was Bruce, who walked to begin the second and was erased on a double play.

Arodys Vizcaino earned his 12th save in 14 chances in a shaky ninth. Nimmo doubled with two outs, advancing Conforto to third, before Bruce popped up to end it.

DeGrom said he wasn’t blaming teammates for the lack of run support, but third baseman Todd Frazier summed up the state of the Mets’ offense.

”After the game, I said, `Dude, I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know why we’re not producing for you,’ ” Frazier said. ”We talk about trying too hard. Maybe we’re trying too hard when he’s pitching, but a guy throws like that, he works fast. He was just dominant.”

STILL SCORCHING

Facing a shift in the fourth, Freeman hit an opposite-field single http://www.houstontexansteamonline.com/kahale-warring-jersey , improving his average since the start of 2013 with runners in scoring position to .361, best in the majors over that span.

He’s hitting .413 against the Mets in 12 games this year and has a .318 average, 22 homers and 94 RBIs in 134 games against the Mets, but his thoughts were mostly on his mother. Wednesday marked the death of Rosemary Freeman, who passed away from skin cancer when Freddie was 8 years old.

”I don’t know if I’ve ever done well on this day,” he said. ”It’s hard to keep my emotions in check. We lost her way too young. I hit that really high, I know I hit it good, but I think she pulled that one over for me today.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Mets: RHP Noah Syndergaard has been prescribed more rest after getting a second opinion on a strained ligament in his index finger. Callaway said Syndergaard’s right finger is ”tender to the touch.” Syndergaard, on the disabled list retroactive to May 26, was examined Tuesday in New York. There is no immediate timetable for his return.

Braves: RHP Julio Teheran, out since June 5 with a right thumb contusion, is eligible to come off the disabled list Friday, but the Braves have yet to announce their rotation for the weekend.

UP NEXT

Mets: LHP Steven Matz (2-4, 3.53 ERA) threw a season-high 105 pitches in his previous start, a no-decision against the Yankees. He’ll face Matt Koch (4-3, 4.20) as the Mets open a series against the Diamondbacks.

Braves: RHP Anibal Sanchez (2-0, 2.37 ERA) will try for his first victory in six starts against San Diego against the Padres’ Tyson Ross (5-3, 3.43).

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