by Carter Brantley
Buccaneers 26 Panters 23 in OT
Bucky Irving had a career night. 152 yards rushing and a touchdown.
Rachaad White didn’t have a career night, but his clutch, 38-yard rush in overtime to set up a game-winning kick for Chase McLaughlin might’ve been the play of the game.
If it wasn’t for Anthony Nelson and his strip of Panthers runningback and known Chubba Hubbard in the previous drive in overtime. That was the play of the game.
Or wait, maybe the play of the game was Chase McLaughlin hitting a 51-yard, last-second, game-tying field goal in regulation to send the game into OT.
Well, regardless of which play was the most impactful, as much as there were a lot of lowlights in the Bucs’ 26-23 victory over the Carolina Panthers, there were some massive highlights.
But let’s get those lowlights out of the way: Baker Mayfield had 2 interceptions, both inexcusable and confusingly bad.
The defense allowed Bryce Young to have a solid night, as the 2nd-year man had 298 yards, a career high.
And new punter Trenton Gill gave the Panthers excellent field position at their own 40 to set up what could’ve been a game-winning drive by failing to have his kickoff attempt reach the return zone.
So a lot of ugly. But some good, too.
The Panthers were limited to 78 yards rushing for the night, and for Bucs days of old that’s a run-of-the-mill performance, but the Bucs have struggled against the run so far this year, coming in the bottom 10 in estimated points added per rushing attempt.
Young might have had a career night via pass yards, but he also had to throw it 48 times, and the defense still only allowed 23 points on the road.
So all in all, really not a bad performance defensively, considering they were without starting slot corner Tykee Smith and safety Jordan Whitehead.
Around the division both the Saints and Falcons lost, meaning every team in the NFC South lost, except the Bucs.
They move to 6-6 for the season and are set up in prime position to continue their strong play against weak opponents.
The Bucs will need to take care of business moving forward, as despite being tied with the Falcons record-wise, Atlanta holds the tiebreaker due to their head-to-head records.
The 2-10 Raiders come to Raymond James Stadium next Sunday to face off against the Bucs at 1 pm.
Fire those cannons, the Bucs have everything in place to make a run at another division title.
