Photo by Sofía García Vargas | The Crow’s Nest
With a 48-14 blowout to the Carolina Panthers on Dec. 29, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are one step closer to the National Football League (NFL) playoffs.
The gloomy Sunday afternoon saw a team that knew what was at stake and fought hard to regain the top spot in the NFC South.
With the Buccaneers win and a latter 30-24 loss from the Atlanta Falcons to the Washington Commanders, the local team will need to pull through against the New Orleans Saints this weekend to earn a spot in the postseason.
The game started with both teams scoring on its first drive, with quarterback Baker Mayfield finding wide receiver Mike Evans 3:25 into the first quarter, followed by quarterback Bryce Young from the Panthers throwing a 17 yard pass to wide receiver Adam Thielen 3:25 after that.
Buccaneers kicker Chase McLaughlin put the team up 13-7 with a 23 yard field goal at the end of the first quarter and a 34 yard one with 10:31 left in the second quarter.
Mayfield extended the lead with a 1 yard pass to Evans followed by a 10 yard pass to wide receiver Jalen McMillan, setting the score 27-7.
The Panthers were able to respond with another connection (40 yds) between Young and Thielen late in the first half to send the game to half time 27-14.
Tampa Bay didn’t back down in the second half.
The local quarterback found tight end Payne Durham with a 5 yard pass for his first touchdown in the league, followed by a kick by McLaughlin to put the Buccaneers up 34-14.
It was a game of achievements throughout the Buccaneers’ squad.
Mayfield threw for 359 yards on 27-of-32 passing with no interceptions, compiling a 153.0 passer rating and establishing him in the top three in passing yards in the league this season.
Rookie receiving back Bucky Irving achieved his first 1,000 rushing yards in a season and rookie tight end Devin Culp got his first ever NFL catches. Additionally, Evans is now just 85 yards away from his 11th season with over 1,000 yards.
The true star of the game, however, was a duck that landed on the field with a little over five minutes in the third quarter.
With the “lucky ducky” still on the field, the Buccaneers blocked a punt attempt by the Panthers with linebacker J.J. Russell recovering the ball and scoring a touchdown followed by a field goal putting Tampa Bay up 41-14.
Mayfield connected with McMillan one last time in the fourth quarter to seal the game at 48-14.
“[Mayfield] played a heck of a ball game intelligently, we didn’t turn over offensively. We were very good on third downs, and he controlled the ball, got it spread around and got everybody touches,” head coach Todd Bowles said in the postgame press conference.
Bowles also highlighted the “meaningful minutes” the rookies, especially Irving, McMillan and center Graham Barton, contribute to the game saying they have a “bright future” ahead of them.
The game result came as a relief after a stressful encounter in North Carolina earlier this month where Tampa Bay defeated the locals 26-23 in overtime just one week after the Panthers almost beat the Kansas City Chiefs to snatch its undefeated streak. However, the Panthers ultimately fell 30-27.
“It was about starting fast. It was a sloppy start in [North Carolina], so we wanted to make sure we corrected that, and I thought our guys did just that,” Mayfield said.
Tampa Bay now looks to earn a spot in the postseason with a win against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, Jan. 5 at 1 p.m.
