The Carolina Panthers took over the driver’s seat for the NFC South title with their narrow win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
First Quarter
The Panthers got the ball first and started their usual strong opening drive.
A long run by Jimmy Horn on a reverse and a good run by Rico Dowdle set the Panthers up in field goal range. Chuba Hubbard was stacked up on a third down run, and the Panthers were forced to settle for three.
The Buccaneers responded with their own, even better opening drive. Bucky Irving had a few nice runs and Baker Mayfield found some easy completions on a march that met little resistance. At the one yard line, Mikes Evans and Jackson squared up, and the Buccaneers’ wide receiver won the battle for a touchdown.
The next drive ended in a quick punt after it was thrown into chaos by Austin Corbett stepping on Bryce Young’s on a second down pass play.
Second Quarter
Rachaad White broke free for a 39 yard run to quickly move the Buccaneers into Panthers territory. The Panthers defense held up well after that and forced a field goal attempt, but A’Shawn Robinson was called for roughing the snapper, which extended the drive. The Bucs inched closer to the endzone, but the defense held their water and ultimately forced a shorter field goal.
The teams traded punts with the Bucs’ coming after a Christian Rozeboom sack. Trevor Etienne fielded the punt and ran it back well into Buccaneers territory, but the offense couldn’t move the ball much outside of a pass to McMillan and had to settle for another field goal.
The defense held the Bucs to a three and out when they were trying a two minute drive, which gave the offense a chance to score before the break.
The Panthers got the ball back with a minute left and all three of their timeouts. They managed the drive perfectly. They matriculated up the field with a few short completions with some Rico Dowdle runs sprinkled in. There was a little hiccup where Xavier Legette forgot where out of bounds was and caught a very catchable ball well past the sideline. Other than that, most plays were well executed. On the last play before a possible field goal, the Buccaneers played a picket fence defense near the five yard line. Tetairoa McMillan ran right past it, and Young dropped the pass in the bucket to put the Panthers ahead.
Third Quarter
The Bucs’ first drive of the second half mirrored theirs from the first. They nickel and dimed the Panthers down the field with a long scramble by Mayfield being the biggest play. A catch and run by White set the Bucs up at the one. After a couple of unsuccessful pass attempts to Mike Evans, the second of which drew a pass interference on Jaycee Horn, the Bucs went to Sean Tucker on the ground, and he scampered outside for a touchdown.
Carolina came back and did the same thing. Young made plays with his feet, both extending plays and as a runner. He had a nice timing route to McMillan where the receiver caught it despite all sorts of uncalled contact. He capped off the drive by bobbing and weaving through pass rushers to create space and time to find Ja’Tavion Sanders uncovered in the endzone.
The ensuing kickoff got run back out near midfield. They moved the ball a little bit, but the Panthers defense held strong again. Jaycee Horn came burning off the edge and forced Mayfield into the mosh of bodies in front of him. About four Panthers converged on the quarterback for a sack that forced a 50 yard field goal from Chase McLaughlin.
Fourth Quarter
Bryce got crunched on a sack as part of another ineffective drive that ended in a punt. The Buccaneers started the drive inside their own 10, but they broke out with a long pass to Emeka Egbuka up the middle of the field. The defense looked like they got off the field with a sack off pressure, but the play was whistled dead at the start because of a delay of game. Fortunately the Buccaneers didn’t take advantage of the reprieve as Mayfield short hopped his pass attempt to Chris Godwin.
Bryce Young dropped another dime on a deep ball to Jalen Coker to take the Panthers down to the Tampa 30 yard line with just over two minutes to play. The drive stalled there though, and Ryan Fitzgerald hit home another field goal to put Carolina up 23-20 just outside the two minute warning.
Fitzgerald perfectly landed the kickoff on the one yard line before it bounced into the endzone. It would have set the Buccaneers up on the 20, but a player on Tampa’s special teams inexplicably headbutted Thomas Incoom and called for unnecessary roughness. Baker Mayfield made up for that with another long scramble. A few quick completions over the middle moved the Bucs into Panthers territory. Mike Evans unexpectedly stopped and reversed course while running across the middle. Mayfield threw the ball where he thought Evans was going, but the only person there to catch the ball was Lathan Ransom.
Overview
It wasn’t the prettiest or most exciting game, but Panthers games rarely are. I don’t really know how to provide a quick hit summary of what happened. It was like a bunch of normal, unremarkable things happened, then time ran out and the Panthers happened to be ahead. But hey, we’ll take it. The Panthers are 8-7 and in control of their playoff destiny.
Next week’s game ultimately means little, but the Panthers do have to host the NFC leading Seahawks.
