At home, Carolina has 7 on its mind

The Carolina Panthers are 6-0 at home this season.

Tonight, they’re looking for No. 7.

Boy, are they.

That just happens to be the jersey number of Tampa Bay quarterback Jeff Garcia, who has won his last five starts against the Panthers and now has an NFC South title within reach.

The Buccaneers and Panthers, who face each other tonight at Carolina, are both 9-3. Tampa Bay has the tiebreaker advantage, however, by virtue of a 27-3 victory over the Panthers in Week 6.

In that game, Garcia completed 15 of 20 passes for 173 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions. In the five consecutive victories over Carolina with Garcia as the starter, the Tampa Bay quarterback has completed 60.4% of his passes for 1,178 yards, with nine touchdowns and three interceptions.

Garcia’s mobility has been especially vexing for Panthers defenders.

“It makes it a lot more difficult any time you get a threat of a guy who can run,” Carolina safety Chris Harris told the Gaston (N.C.) Gazette. “He makes a lot more plays with his feet. When plays break down, he can find a way to escape and dump it off to a fullback, or to a tight end. That’s annoying.

“It’s very annoying as a defense, a guy that can keep plays going with his legs. We have to be much more disciplined as a defense with our rush, especially when we’re rushing four [defenders], and not to give him those escape lanes.”

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sam.farmer@latimes.com