Buccaneers keep playoff hopes alive with 16-14 victory over Panthers

The Buccaneers won.

And now they wait.

Tampa Bay will have a chance to make it to the postseason after defeating Carolina 16-14 on Saturday.

But the winner of the NFC South will be determined by Sunday’s matchup between the Falcons and Saints. If Atlanta wins, Carolina will be headed to the postseason as the winners of a three-way tie.

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The Buccaneers started the game with urgency, going up 10-0 with a Baker Mayfield touchdown pass, followed by a Chase McLaughlin 29-yard field goal to go up 10-0.

A Mayfield interception led to Bryce Young’s first touchdown pass of the day, which went to Tommy Tremble for an 8-yard score. But McLaughlin connected on another field goal at the end of the second quarter to give the Bucs a 13-7 lead at halftime.

No one was able to score in the third quarter, with Panthers kicker Ryan Fitzgerald missing a 54-yard field goal short early in the period.

But after another McLaughlin field goal early in the fourth quarter to make it 16-7, the Panthers had a good opportunity to score with the ball at the Tampa Bay 20-yard line. But that’s when a bizarre flea-flicker play call went completely wrong, with Rico Dowdle losing his footing on the wet grass and bungling the pitch back to Young. Linebacker Lavonte David recovered the loose ball for a takeaway, ending Carolina’s scoring threat.

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The Panthers did make it a two-point game after Young completed a long, fourth-down pass to Tetairoa McMillan, followed by Young’s touchdown pass to receiver Jalen Coker.

But the Panthers could not get a stop on defense, with Mayfield converting third-and-4 with a 20-yard pass to Cade Otton.

By the time Carolina got the ball back, the club had just 18 seconds and no timeouts. A pitch play at the end of the game did not work and the Bucs had improved to 8-9.

Still, even after losing the game, the Panthers will win the NFC South via tiebreakers if the Falcons beat the Saints on Sunday. If New Orleans wins or the game ends in a tie, then Tampa Bay will be the NFC’s No. 4 seed as division champion.

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Tampa Bay finished the game with 21 first downs, 338 total yards, and 8-of-15 on third down. The Panthers had 16 first downs, 285 yards, and were 1-of-8 on third down.

Carolina did not run it effectively at all, as Rico Dowdle finished with just 10 yards on seven carries while Chuba Hubbard also had 10 yards on five carries.

Young was 24-of-35 for 266 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. McMillan had four catches for 85 yards.

On the other side, Mayfield was 16-of-22 for 203 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Otton led with 94 yards on seven catches with a TD. Bucky Irving had 85 yards on 26 carries to shoulder the offensive load.