The 2015 Buccaneer season ended with a hammering at the hands of the 15-1 and playoff bound Carolina Panthers. The Bucs committed three turnovers and also saw star WR Mike Evans ejected in the fourth quarter as they also lost their composure late on as the game got out of control. Jameis Winston went over 300 yards for the second time in three weeks and in the process became only the third rookie QB in NFL history to pass for more than 4,000 yards in a season. But his two interceptions led to 14 Carolina points and only a pair of Lavonte David fumble recoveries prevented the score becoming even more out of control. The Bucs fell to 6-10 on the season ending the year with a four-game losing streak having reached .500 after 12 games.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 10 Carolina Panthers 38 Sunday 3 January 2016 at Bank of America Stadium
SCORING TB 1:28-1Q Barth FG39 CAR 12:35-2Q Newton 1 run (Gano kick) CAR 9:29-2Q Gano FG49 CAR 4:17-2Q Artis-Payne 11 run (Gano kick) CAR 1:52-2Q Cotchery 31 pass from Newton (Gano kick) CAR 9:18-3Q Newton 1 run (Gano kick) TB 4:45-3Q Winston 4 run (Barth kick) CAR 7:22-4Q Funchess 16 pass from Newton (Gano kick)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING BUCS: Martin 15-48, Sims 4-15, Winston 3-14. PANTHERS: Tolbert 10-59, Artis-Payne 14-44, Newton 6-10, Anderson 2-(-2). PASSING BUCS: Winston 47-29-325-2-0. PANTHERS: Newton 26-21-293-0-2. RECEIVING BUCS: Sims 9-74, Martin 7-60, Evans 4-99, Dye 4-31, Seferian- Jenkins 3-48, Brate 1-10, Stocker 1-3. PANTHERS: Funchess 7-120, Brown 3-58, Cotchery 2-52, Bersin 2-25, Artis-Payne 2-17, Olsen 2-16, Dickson 2-0, Tolbert 1-5. INTERCEPTIONS BUCS: none. PANTHERS: McClain 1-24, Davis 1-22. KICK RETURNS BUCS: none. PANTHERS: Webb 2-51. PUNT RETURNS BUCS: Rainey 1-0. PANTHERS: McClain 2-5. SACKS BUCS: Carter 1-12, David 1-10, Tandy 1-10, McDaniel 1-6. PANTHERS: Addison 1-8, Love 1-8.
STARTERS OFFENSE DEFENSE LT 76 Smith LDE 94 Johnson LG 70 Mankins DT 93 McCoy C 68 Hawley DT 77 McDaniel RG 74 Marpet RDE 95 Jones RT 69 Dotson MLB 50 Carter TE 88 Stocker WLB 54 David WR 17 Dye CB 21 Verner WR 13 Evans LCB 24 Jenkins QB 3 Winston RCB 27 Banks FB 46 Lane SS 37 Tandy RB 22 Martin FS 30 McDougald PLAYED 5 Schum, 10 Barth, 11 Humphries, 26 Moore, 33 McFadden, 34 Sims, 38 Adjei-Barimah, 43 Rainey, 48 DePaola, 51 Lansanah, 52 George, 53 Glanton, 56 Smith, 57 Keyes, 62 Smith, 64 Pamphile, 84 Brate, 85 Spencer, 87 Seferian- Jenkins, 89 Shepard, 90 Melton, 91 Bowers, 92 Gholston DID NOT PLAY 8 Glennon INACTIVES 4 Griffin, 25 James, 49 Eubanks, 59 Brown, 78 Cherilus, 81 Westbrook, 82 Myers
COMMENTARY CREW Dick Stockton and David Diehl
GAME REPORTS Roy Cummings reports on a disappointing end to a season that did promise more Martin Fennelly watches the Bucs lose the game and the composure How Greg Auman saw the game unfold Doug Martin misses out on the NFL rushing title Mike Evans’ season ends early with an ejection in the 4th quarter First and 10 - some notes and observations from the game More notes and anecdotes from the Buccaneer locker room The official NFL gamebook Scott Smith’s detailed game report
GAME HIGHLIGHTS Click on the boxes below to view the clips Lavonte David recorded a sack of Cam Newton on the first drive of the game Followed on the next play by another one by Keith Tandy The only Buccaneer touchdown came on a roll-out play by Jameis Winston