Buccaneers 26, Panthers 23 (OT)

December 1st, 2024

Damn, this game took years off Joe’s life.

Wow!

No style points for the Bucs today, but what a special day for electric rookie running back Bucky Irving, Mike Evans, money kicker Chase McLaughlin and game hero Anthony Nelson, whose overtime forced fumble might have saved the season.

Irving hammered away in the second half to rack up 24 carries for 158 yards and a touchdown in regulation. It’s about damn time the Bucs freed him up for true bellcow work.

But with a chance to put the game away late in the fourth quarter, the Bucs went with handing off to Rachaad White. What???

It turned out to be a recipe for a Bucs field goal that led to the Panthers exposing the Bucs’ Charmin-soft pass defense. But Baker Mayfield got the ball back down three points with 30 seconds remaining and three timeouts. He executed beautifully, franchise-quarterback stuff, to set up the 51-yard overtime-forcing field goal by McLauglin.

White, however, was the overtime dagger with a big run to set up the game-winning field goal. Good for him.

Too-often lifeless and mistake-prone was the Bucs offense, though, with Mayfield throwing two brutal interceptions that would have cost the Bucs if they were playing a decent team.

But they were not playing a good team, which has been a theme of the past month.

The Bucs were to close the season with a pumpkin-pie-soft schedule that included the sad Panthers twice. Carolina simply does not have the necessary talent, as evidenced today.

Still, the Panthers hung with the Bucs, which was embarrassing.

But a win is a win, and the Bucs are tied for the NFC South lead at 6-6 with the Falcons.

Wow. Just wow.

101 Responses to “Buccaneers 26, Panthers 23 (OT)”

  1. Austin Says:

    Todd still šŸ’© the bed

  2. D-Mac Says:

    The scarecrow, Bowles, still needs to go.

  3. Tbbucs3 Says:

    Anthony Nelson saved the season!

  4. Leopold Stotch Says:

    Oh my God šŸ˜±šŸ˜±šŸ˜±

  5. Erik w/ UniqueModernArt.com Says:

    Bu-cky Bu-cky Bu-cky!

  6. Tee in NC Says:

    Way to find a way defense. Bucky is a beast

  7. Greg Says:

    A win is a win! Some Bucs fans seemed like they wanted to lose so they could complain all week about Bowles lol

  8. Tbbucs3 Says:

    LOL at the Bowels hatersā€¦.mad cause hes about the win the NFC south 3 years in a row

  9. Colonel Angus Says:

    Bowles willed us to victory.

  10. NaplesBucsFan Says:

    Blah, underwhelming that the lead for the division is a .500 recordā€¦pathetic and the ONLY reason we have ANY chance at playoffsā€¦sad

  11. Bucben1961 Says:

    Todd needs to be replaced … immediately

  12. Trask To The Future Says:

    BENCH MAYFIELD.

  13. Madcon Says:

    Mayfield turning into prime Winston

  14. BucsBeast Says:

    Bowles DEFENSE is HORRIBLE!
    I have ZERO faith in the defense.

  15. bucsfaninva Says:

    I just hope Bucky is ok.

  16. Darin Says:

    Are you not watching the games? The panthers suck? The Bucs are just as bad. Don’t bet on bowles

  17. Erik w/ UniqueModernArt.com Says:

    I still don’t understate why the he!! R White is in the game at the most crucial moments, but that was a nice 38-yd run though at the end, so kudos.

    But Bucky is RB1 and WHERE IS SEAN TUCKER???!???

  18. Scotty in Fat Antonio Says:

    Someone needs to get fired tomorrow. Or at least have them walk home from Carolina. It won’t be Bowles unfortunately…maybe the special teams coach.

  19. Bucsalltheway Says:

    What a game! Lfg defense stood up when it needed to everything spelled doom for us…Adam Thielen made some clutch catches gotta tip my hat to dude. We are 6-6 like Atlanta yaaay

  20. Steven007 Says:

    The game day thread is so toxic. Hundreds of comments saying game over. Bunch of idiots and fake fans. Games like this? Aren’t that unusual. He played to the last snap. Idiotic fans.

  21. Erik w/ UniqueModernArt.com Says:

    *understand

  22. Peter Says:

    Dale Mabry will be named Anthony Nelson after today
    The legend of Bucky Irving is for real
    Go Bucs!!!!

  23. 74 Bucs Fan Says:

    Crazy game! Offense looked flat but Iā€™ll take the win by the skin of our teeth. Still not sure how we pulled that off. Go Bucs!

  24. Colonel Angus Says:

    Panthers are playing good football lately. They usually play us close

  25. Buc4evr Says:

    get on the plane and get the hell out of there Bucs stole this one. finally.

  26. Rjscheapseats Says:

    Team wins and loser fans can only talk about Bowles
    Pathetic

  27. Herbiebuc Says:

    They had Rachael white in the game because Bucky was hurt he came out and never went back in.

  28. Ds Says:

    Bowles almost cost this team another game

  29. SB~LV Says:

    šŸ¤®šŸ¤®šŸ¤®šŸ¤®šŸ¤®šŸ¤®

  30. BucfaninMi Says:

    Whew! Ugly game glad they won. But hard to feel good about it.

  31. Danfan Says:

    Baker was off the whole game aside from that last drive in regulation, we’re no chance if he continues to play like this. Wondering if the family lawsuit is proving to be a distraction?

  32. Tbbucs3 Says:

    IDGAF how you win an NFL football game. A win is a win in the national foot football league.

    Its not college football people.

  33. Buc4evr Says:

    Bucs never win games like this, so this is a great ending to a piss poor game.

  34. Pmike Says:

    Offense appeared to be the biggest issue today. So many opportunities to put the game away were blown. Felt like we should have ran it way more

  35. Bucfan1988 Says:

    Why are my comments not posting??

  36. Colonel Angus Says:

    A win is a win sissies. Ainā€™t no style points in the NFL.

  37. BucfaninMi Says:

    Iā€™m still trying to figure out how they beat Detroit in Detroit!? That was this season? Correct?

  38. Tbbucs3 Says:

    This exactly the type of game you want to see from your franchise quarterbackā€¦..

    Baker Mayfield clearly didnt have his fastball today but he was able to still make plays and grind out a W. Great job.

  39. ModHairKen Says:

    Epic win. Iconic. Miraculous.

    Baker Mayfield and Bucky Irving, sure.

    But Mike Evans!!!!!!! Wow!!!! What a finish.

  40. A Bucs Fan Says:

    Hope Bucky is ok for next week.

  41. Danfan Says:

    Yet another game where the opposing QB has a career day, i Know Young was looking better lately, but just look at how Cousins looks washed against everyone else but looks like a superstar in his prime against us!

  42. Bakerfan Says:

    Canā€™t even say this win is something you can build on

  43. Tucker Says:

    So much for that blow out to team that is just terrible right joes? This defense is terrible change needs to be made should have never been that close. Players may like Todd but they damn sure ain’t inspired by him with all the mistakes giving up on plays instead of swarming missed tackles it’s wild.

  44. Alvin Scissors Harper Says:

    If the refs don’t blow the Thielen TD and Piniero doesn’t miss kicks that he never misses, we lose by 2 scores.
    Fire Toad NOW!

  45. Bartow Buc Says:

    A win is a win!!! Our Bucs Fought Hard !!! 6-6 Baby !!!! Go Bucs !!! Win out !!!!

  46. UKBuccaneer Says:

    A win is a win. Weā€™ll take it. Baker was off, the defense was horrible. Coaching bad, special teams sucked. But itā€™s a win. On to next week.

  47. Chad Says:

    Pmike. But at the same time it was the offense that went down the field to get the game tying field goal after the defense left the middle of the field wide open for a touchdown down. Defense made the fumble which they desperately needed, both sides need to be better next week, but offense won the game

  48. Bucfan1988 Says:

    The Bucs are no longer a passing offense.

    They are a physical running offense now.

    The coaching staff needs to see this and stop purposely going away from the run game.

  49. Jerseybuc Says:

    Radios 14 yards off the ball defense blew another lead late in the fourth

  50. Dan the Bucs Fan Says:

    Hard to win in the NFL on the road and in your own divsion! We found way thatā€™s all that matters. Horrific game by Cohen today we literally didnā€™t have to throw a pass we create our own mistakes. Either way we control our own destiny now! Hopefully in playoffs we realize Bucky is as good as any running back in nfl and we ride him as far as he and Baker can take us.

    Our defense is struggling but we are 6-6 we have beat the best teams in the nfl we took the best teams in nfl to the end!

    Once we get in we are as dangerous as anybody!

    Raiders next week at Home! Atlanta plays Vikings Washington has a bye

  51. Mr_Barf Says:

    Brutal fan game for us today..yikes! We’ll take that pile of crap on the plane home with us.

  52. Colin in Canada Says:

    There are no easy divisional games in the NFL.

  53. Sc Bucs fan Says:

    Like Camarda last year, Nelson saved the season in a game we should have lost to a bad team. Still, itā€™s a W.

  54. Sacker58 Says:

    It’s sad the defense has to rely on a fumble to win a game .
    The panthers should have won the game going away.
    The offense was uninspired except for 13″ and 7″ .
    Baker looked horrible in the passing game .Being shown up bye a rookie that truly outplayed baker and the bucs.
    Todd Bowles defense got amazingly lucky because Chuba Hubbard doesn’t put the ball on the ground often.
    But a win is a win .
    Injuries hit again today so let’s see what happens from here.

  55. IrishTony Says:

    You Mayfield haters are a problem. Are you Bucs fans or qb fans? I rooted for the success of every suckin qb weā€™ve ever had including Winston, Glennon , McGown, Freeman, Garcia, etc. Not to mention the crappy QBs we had in the mid to late 80s.

  56. Bosch Says:

    Gotta love the run game. Need to clean up the sacks and intā€™s. Defense was what you would expect of a Bowles defense against a mediocre offense with a promising rookie quarterback. Anthony Nelson and McGlachlen were the difference makers.

  57. maccafan Says:

    Darin – You do know the Chiefs needed last second FG a week ago to beat the Panthers 27-24. I am not saying Panthers are great, but they have been playing much better.

  58. Jason Anthony Sturgess Says:

    Fire Bowles Yesterday! I honestly think that if the Bucs lost, Bowles would have been Monday.

  59. Tbbucs3 Says:

    ā€œ Canā€™t even say this win is something you can build onā€

    What in the world are you talking about?

    The Bucs are now heading back for a home game with playoff stakesā€¦.

  60. Bucfan1988 Says:

    This defensive scheme is pure GARBAGEā€¦..

    We were given an early Christmas gift šŸŽ ā€¦.

    Iā€™m DONE With Jamel Deanā€¦ā€¦
    Iā€™ll take anyone else out there at cornerā€¦
    Heā€™s a weak pillow-soft player..

  61. maccafan Says:

    DanFan – Baker completed 80% of his passes last week for well over 200 yards. He had his worst game of the season and they still won.

  62. Tbbucs3 Says:

    Of course you can build on this win

  63. Mord Says:

    If Carolinaā€™s kicker didnā€™t screw the pooch twice this would be a very different outcome

    Luck, and enough players making plays.

    And hell, Bryce Young may be a pretty good NFL QB after all

  64. IrishTony Says:

    Having said that Cohen needs to pull in the reigns on short yardage situations and trust his backs and stop with the drop back bs!

  65. Tbbucs3 Says:

    All the haters will be watching Traskā€™s screen pass highlight on repeat this evening

  66. firethecannons Says:

    Any given Sunday! Bucs prevailed, Evans was money and both Backs were good, but Bucky is very special. We finally caught a break on the overtime coin toss, yeah Bucs can run the ball with the best of them now!

  67. C-spann3 Says:

    I dont care, Bowles still needs to be fired!

  68. dumboldguy Says:

    When was the last time an opponent needed to drive and had more than a minute on the clock and didn’t deliver? I can’t recall.

  69. FortMyersDave Says:

    A won is a win. Look Bowles was not going to get launched on Monday with a loss, the Glazers do not roll like that. However, when the Glazers look at the season next month and determine if Todd has made progress, the answer is no and changes will have to be made. Progress is 10 regular season wins and/or a playoff run. This team can barely beat the Panthers and Bowles D made Young look like a decent qb.

  70. BucsBeast Says:

    Bowles defense also gave Bryce Young a CAREER HIGH productivity 1st half.

  71. Michael Says:

    Some people are never satisfied with a Win. You can lose to any team, the Panthers had the Chiefs on the ropes. Iā€™m glad Iā€™m the dude excited with our Win!

  72. Rover Says:

    FIRE BOWLES!!! AND TAKE THAT CHARMIN SOFT DEFENSE OF YOURS WITH YOU!! WE JUST PISSED AWAY A CHANCE TO PROMOTE LIAM. ITS DEPRESSING.

    GO BUCS??

  73. firethecannons Says:

    One sack makes no sense! please Joe make that make sense, I think our corners are playing so far off that Young was able to get the ball off easily every time.

  74. C-spann3 Says:

    C-spann3 Says:
    December 1st, 2024 at 8:00 pm
    I dont care, Bowles still needs to be fired!

    Need an upgrade at QB too! Baker cant read defenses!

  75. Beeej Says:

    OK: Exactly HOW many names does TTTF post under?

  76. C-spann3 Says:

    THIS!!!

    BucsBeast Says:
    December 1st, 2024 at 8:01 pm
    Bowles defense also gave Bryce Young a CAREER HIGH productivity 1st half.

  77. Bucsfan81 Says:

    Every game is going to be a fight here on out. Even games we should win easily because this defense is soft like Bowles. Even if we do make the playoffs it will be an early first round exit.

  78. Sacker58 Says:

    Honestly at this point,unless Bowles gets personell back id rather not see the bucs in the playoffs.
    Without all their guys that have been injured are in there on defense .They are below avg enough to lose the game, but keep it close enough to torture the fans.

  79. Drunkinybor Says:

    Let’s take the best player from either team off the field and run (unright toe tap white) that way we can try to lose. What a brilliant, ingenious, grand master chess level, strategic masterpiece of football glory to be remembered throughout all football history. Amazing šŸ‘ šŸ‘ šŸ‘ šŸ‘ Bravo sir šŸ‘ šŸ‘ šŸ‘ Bravo šŸ‘ šŸ‘ šŸ‘ šŸ’ šŸ’

  80. Clay day Says:

    Itā€™s a winā€¦.but ugly on many fronts. Iā€™m glad Baker didnā€™t call the overtime coin flip. He loves calling tales. Hard to watch at times, but overall entertaining

  81. Dave Pear Says:

    When youā€™re a horrible head coach and inept defensive coordinator, a good strategy is to find one worse than you. Canalwater out-Todded the Toddster today. Whoever is next – itā€™ll take this kind of miracle. How many in the bag?

  82. Buccaneer Bonzai Says:

    I missed most of the game. Got distracted today, and only remember with 5 left in regulation.

    So I have no idea what I missed…but I thought overtime meant a loss. Color me surprised.

    Going to have to do much better.

  83. Jeagan1999 Says:

    BAKER & BUCKY!!

  84. Bartow Buc Says:

    Listen, Look, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Won the game !!! Baker Mayfield is the best quarterback the Bucs have had with the exception of TB 12. Bucs are 6-6, the Stinking Panthers are 3-9 !!! We will kick their butts in Tampa !!!

    Go Bucs !!! Beat the Raiders !!!

  85. Td Says:

    More awful coverage by the defense. Made a bad team look real good today

  86. NativeSonx Says:

    The problem with the D is the “next man up” in the secondary aren’t very good… today it was Tavierre Thomas coming in relief of an injured Mike Edwards and was targeted frequently, before him Josh Hayes got lit up as a replacement starter and before him Tyrek Funderburk also in relief of the underappreciated Jamel Dean (who hasn’t given up a TD this season per advance defensive stats). My bet is Thomas and Winfield will have the worst qb ratings against vs the Panthers as one of them will be credited in giving up the Thielen TD catch and his big catch in OT was definitely on Tavierre Thomas. The Bucs will need both Edwards and Tykee Smith to get healthy soon as any more time that reserve safeties or corners will need to fill in will lead to more losses.

  87. Lightningvinny Says:

    So Gil had a few bad punts ,, a suspect hold on the FG in OT , and the terrible kick off after we went up by 4 ,, other then that I like him šŸ˜‰

  88. Falconrap Says:

    Baker Mayfield was horrible today. Those two picks and a couple of near picks were just brutal. He was constantly throwing high or behind his receivers. The one late pass to Evans down the field could have easily gone for another bunch of yards had he not thrown behind Evans. He also needlessly took a couple of sacks. Pretty typical of this guy. We have enough talent around him, to win despite his performance, but we nearly had to ride Bucky into the ground to do it.

  89. Gipper Says:

    If team finishes 10-8 and wins a playoff game, Coach Bowles will get a contract extension. Most here wonā€™t like it, but you donā€™t fire a coach who wins his division 3 years in a row. There are going to be wholesale changes on defense next year. Most pressing need is a reliable EDGE and a LB or two with great speed. Todayā€s game was a clunker but offense moved the ball late when they had too. Baker had a mediocre game but was pressured most of the game. He made some great throws to ME when he needed too. Defense allowing touchdown with 30 seconds left is the same old story. Defense was determined to make Bryce Young look good and for the most part he did look good.

  90. adam from ny Says:

    we’ve gotta be better…

    the panthers are really playing for canales and playing much better…

    we’ve gotta be better…

    we snuck outta there with the W…

    once again we’ve gotta be better…across the board

  91. VOT Says:

    Stumbling, bumbling, fumbling all the way to mediocrity under Todd Bowles

    He is a FG better than the rookie HC with a severely undermanned team

    We are simply wasting time with Todd in charge

  92. Gipper Says:

    Falconrap Says:
    December 1st, 2024 at 8:44 pm
    Baker Mayfield was horrible today. Those two picks and a couple of near picks were just brutal.
    =====================
    Easily Baker worst game of the year but he still was 21-33 for 64% 235 yards and got the offense moving when he needed too in crunch time. Horrible is pretty strong unless you expect QB perfection. Sometimes you win ugly. Last week against Giants team won pretty. Relax, this team is not championship caliber, but they will win division for 4th straight year and possibly win first playoff game.

  93. Les Says:

    Bucky is doing great ,but we’re is Tucker to give bucky a breather ? Rotate are backs keep them fresh. We have 3 good ones.

  94. DavidBigBucsFan99 Says:

    Well Baker was out played by a rookie and the defense tried to give the game away yet he still brought us back never giving up. Kudos to him. Kind of proves what morons the Baker Lover Brigade are when they say Trask sucks and can’t play in the NFL because this rookie was benched and came out and played better than Baker did.

  95. LANshark Says:

    Yes, statistically Baker had a poor game. HOWEVER, he was almost never allowed to drop back to his spot and throw… there was pressure up the middle all day – not sure if it was Mauch, Barton, or Bredeson, but someone was getting their butt kicked in pass pro.

    And for some reason, we got away from the short pass, screen, and play action/roll out in the first half… no clue why. We did better when we went back to it in 2nd half. BOTH of Baker’s INT’s were when he got pressured out of the pocket and tried to make something happen… that’s gonna happen with him sometimes.

    NOW, I understand we’ve had a ton of injuries on defense, but the charmin-soft zone is not working, Todd. IF you’re gonna play blitz, you have to have man/press to compliment it.

  96. Dave Pear Says:

    Trashk completed one sideways screen pass. Baker led them to a tie game with 30 seconds left, dimes to Mike, and even Shep. The fact that coaches keep going to Baker even though heā€™s on half of one foot out of two and half an arm tells everyone all they need to know about Glennon Jr.

    The fact that they elevated Pratt is all we all need to know.

    Bucs get a miracle win in spite of a bad game by an injured QB with the heart of a Lion, and ā€œfansā€ are still pining for Glennon Jr.

    Whatever.

  97. Saskbucs Says:

    Yeah Baker sucked for a large chunk of the game and there were other bad performances but as if anyone is gonna absolve Bowles of this debacle W out there today. He is the HC! He is the guy making a plan, running practices, you know preparing the team all week for the game.

    What we see on the field is a reflection of him. Guys love him so they donā€™t give up, which is great, but they are also half asleep or executing poorly in 1/3 of games and the D couldnā€™t stop a game winning TD drive if you gave the opponents a balloon to throw.

    Nelson saved the Bucs season and Bowles jobā€¦ for now. His former OC is getting more out of a lot less.

  98. Saskbucs Says:

    Gipper and others talking Bowles extension if he wins another playoff game. I donā€™t see it and I will be upset if it happens because we will have a championship caliber roster next year and it will be wasted on him.

    Today showed the Glazers what cannot happen. You cannot let another OC walk in order to keep Todd. Todd isnā€™t the only coach in the league that guys will play hard for. These are professionals, treat them right and with respect, they will do the same. Canales is proving it right now. Winning a couple games and taking better teams down to the wire, staying competitive. People liked bashing Dave but he is clearly doing good things in Carolina. No quit there.

  99. sunny Says:

    “Still, the Panthers hung with the Bucs, which was embarrassing.”

    i guess you missed last week when they hung with the chiefs?

  100. sunny Says:

    tb “fans” are ridiculous. apparently no “good” qbs ever have a bad game or throw a bad interception…

    except that this season baker has the same # of interceptions as mahomes, 6 more td passes, more yards, higher completion % – and thats with wr 1-3 out with injuries for several games and a tough 1st half schedule.

  101. orlbucfan Says:

    sunny Says:
    December 1st, 2024 at 11:25 pm
    tb ā€œfansā€ are ridiculous. apparently no ā€œgoodā€ qbs ever have a bad game or throw a bad interceptionā€¦
    ———————-
    Take it from an actual fan: These clowns are anything BUT! A lot of them are phony yahoos who love attention on a blog. I am thrilled Bucs won and beat the OT curse. BM is pushing his luck though, and I am concerned about him.

 

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