ClutchPoints
The NFC South race has been one of the lowest division races in all of football so far this season, and Sunday was the biggest development yet in the battle for a playoff spot. Both the Carolina Panthers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers came into their first meeting of the season at 7-7, but it was the Panthers who came out on top in a 23-20 game.
Bryce Young was the hero for the Panthers, as he has been so many other times this season. After a miraculous touchdown in the red zone put the Panthers up 20-17 in the second half, Young answered the Buccaneers’ field goal drive with one of his own to give Carolina the lead. A Baker Mayfield interception on the final possession sealed the win and put the Panthers into first place in the division.
This is Young’s 12th game-winning drive since coming into the league in 2023, which is the most in the NFL during that span according to ESPN’s David Newton. Nobody else even has 11, and both Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen have just 10 in that time.
Incredibly, Young only has 14 wins in his career, so he only has two wins that haven’t come thanks to a game-winning drive, per Newton. The former No. 1 overall pick has been inconsistent at times in his career, but he has stepped up and played some of his best football time and time again when it matters.
Young’s overall numbers on Sunday weren’t eye-popping; he finished 21-for-32 with 191 yards and two touchdowns. However, he took care of the football and led the team down the field when needed, and now he has the Panthers in position to make it into the playoffs.
The job isn’t finished for the Panthers, who will take on the 12-3 Seattle Seahawks in Week 17 with a chance to move even closer to a playoff spot. The Buccaneers, now just one game out of the lead, will play against the Miami Dolphins. The two teams will play each other again in Week 18 in Tampa Bay, potentially with the division title on the line, so Young will have to be at his best in order to get into the playoffs for the first time in his career.
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