Cat Scratch Reader
The Carolina Panthers took over the driver’s seat for the NFC South title with their narrow win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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.
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.
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....
