Buccaneers Defeat Carolina Panthers 26-23 in Week 13

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers gave up a go-ahead touchdown with 30 seconds left in regulation, missed a field goal in overtime and still left Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte with a dramatic 26-23 overtime victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. The win improved Tampa Bay’s record to 6-6 and put them into a first-place tie in the NFC South with the Atlanta Falcons, who lost to the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday.

“Every week we say it’s a playoff game and we’ve got to take care of us,” said Head Coach Todd Bowles. “And it’s not going to be easy. As it was today, it’s going to be a dogfight every week. We’ve just got to come ready to play and make less mistakes. Our hearts are into it, but we’ve got to clean up some things. It’s hard to win in this league. We’ll take a win any way we can get it.”

Chase McLaughlin hit a 30-yard field goal with 2:13 left in overtime after a 38-yard run by Rachaad White took the ball down to Carolina’s 10-yard line. McLaughlin had missed a 55-yarder on the Bucs’ first possession in the extra period but had sent the game to overtime with a 51-yard shot as time expired in regulation. The Bucs got their extra shot in overtime when OLB Anthony Nelson forced a fumble by RB Chuba Hubbard that OLB Yaya Diaby recovered at Tampa Bay’s 29.

“It was a tough game [and] the football gods were kind to us,” said Bowles. “The first half of the season, we wouldn’t have finished that game out. We did a heck of a job fighting back all season. They played tough, we played tough. We made mistakes in the first half of the season and this game we pulled it out. We learned some mental toughness.”

The Buccaneers won in overtime for the first time since beating the Arizona Cardinals, 19-16, on Christmas Day in 2022. In six road games so far this season, the Buccaneers are 4-2 and have never trailed at the end of regulation. Tampa Bay previously lost in overtime this season to the Falcons and the Kansas City Chiefs, in each case losing the opening coin toss and giving up a touchdown on the first drive of the extra period.

“We found a way to win,” said Mayfield. “To be on the right side of things at the end there is good for us. We were sloppy at first all over. Offensively, too many penalties, mental errors, things like that, but to find a way to push it into overtime and get the win is big time for us.”

The Buccaneers scored 10 straight points in the fourth quarter to take a four-point lead. Rookie RB Bucky Irving scored on a six-yard run with nine minutes left and his 43-yard run on Tampa Bay’s next drive set up McLaughlin’s 26-yard field goal. However, Carolina’s rapidly-improving young quarterback, Bryce Young, then directed a 60-yard drive ending in a 25-yard touchdown pass to WR Adam Thielen and a three-point lead. QB Baker Mayfield threw a 17-yard pass to WR Mike Evans and scrambled for 10 yards to get the Bucs into range for McLaughlin’s game-tying kick.

Irving had the best game so far of his impressive rookie season, rushing 25 times for 152 yards and a touchdown and adding three catches for 33 more yards. He did much of that damage in the second half after suffering a hip injury on the kickoff return that ended the first half. Overall, the Buccaneers rushed for 236 yards against the NFL’s 32nd-ranked rush defense, averaging 6.1 yards per tote.

“He had a heck of a game,” said Bowles. “He had over a hundred yards. Rachaad played well as well. [Irving] has a hip pointer right now. Rachaad finished the game and had the big run at the end.”

Mayfield overcome a sluggish start to complete 21 of 33 passes for 235 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. His favorite target was WR Mike Evans, recently returned from a hamstring injury, who caught eight passes for 118 yards and a touchdown. His incredible one-handed snag of a fade pass in the first quarter gave the Buccaneers a 7-0 lead.

“That was an interesting one,” said Mayfield, who briefly left the game in the third quarter after getting stepped on, initially believing he had suffered an Achilles tendon tear. “Honestly, it scared the daylights out of me. I’ve seen some people pop their Achilles before and they say it feels like you got cleated. Obviously, not knowing what exactly happened that’s what I thought I did. It was a little painful, but I got taped again and went back out there.”

Nelson’s critical forced fumble was part of an impressive outing for the sixth-year player, who was pressed into a larger role with Joe Tryon-Shoyinka out with an ankle injury. In addition to that overtime takeaway he had six tackles and three hits on Young. It was a wonderful way to celebrate the birth of his second son on Friday.

Diaby also had three hits on Young and six sacks, but the Bucs sacked him just once. Young consistently evaded pressure and extended plays before hitting his targets downfield. The first pick in the 2023 draft who had been benched earlier this season, Young completed 26 of 46 passes for 298 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. However, Tampa Bay’s defense did a good job of slowing down Chuba Hubbard and the Panthers’ rushing attack, which compiled 78 yards and averaged 3.7 per carry. The Bucs’ defense also consistently tightened up in the red zone, allowing just one of four Panther trips inside the 20 to result in a touchdown.

After racking up 450 yards and 30 points in a Week 12 win at the New York Giants, the Buccaneers’ offense struggled to find any rhythm in the first half, gaining just 146 yards and failing on all five third-own tries to go into halftime down 13-10. Mayfield completed only two of his first eight passes, though that included three drops. The Bucs also committed the only turnover of the first half, with Mayfield’s interception leading to Carolina’s go-ahead field goal right before the intermission. The deficit could have been worse but Panthers K Eddy Pineiro missed two field goals and the home team went one-for-three in the red zone.

Carolina got the ball first after a touchback, and Young started the drive with a quick five-yard pass to WR Xavier Legette. Young then took a deeper shot down the right seam to TE Feleipe Franks but LB Lavonte David had good downfield coverage and it was incomplete. Another deep shot to WR Adam Thielen was out of his reach and the Panthers lined up to punt. The ball bounced out of bounds at the Bucs’ 26.