Tampa Bay Buccaneers 16 Carolina Panthers 14 Saturday 3 January 2026 at Raymond James Stadium
NFC SOUTH STANDINGS Carolina Panthers 8-9 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 8-9 Atlanta Falcons 8-9 New Orleans Saints 6-10
ESPN COMMENTARY CREW Chris Fowler, Dan Orlovsky and Louis Riddick
On a wet rainy day in Tampa, the Bucs did what they had to do in their season finale by beating the Carolina Panthers in a sloppy game between a pair of division leaders with losing records. The defense took advantage of Panther mistakes for two key turnovers and a safe offensive display produced just enough points for victory. But Atlanta’s win over New Orleans the following day meant the Bucs would miss the playoffs.
GAME HIGHLIGHTS Click on the boxes below to view the big plays Cade Otton was the main offensive weapon and scored his first TD Jacob Parrish turned away a Panther scoring threat with an interception Lavonte David recovered a fumble after an aborted flea-flicker play
GAME SCORING TB 9:31-1Q Otton 18 pass from Mayfield (McLaughlin) TB 1:57-1Q McLaughlin FG29 CAR 10:50-2Q Tremble 8 pass from Young (Fitzgerald kick) TB 0:02-2Q McLaughlin FG36 TB 14:12-4Q McLaughlin FG48 CAR 2:27-4Q Coker 8 pass from Young (Fitzgerald kick)
GAME REPORTS Bucs win but not yet in as they play a waiting game with Panthers A quiet man whose heart beat as loud as any other in Tampa Bay Bucs keep playoff hopes alive with a win, now need help from Saints Scott Smith’s official game report Click here for the play-by-play and the NFL gamebook
NFL RESULTS - WEEK 18 Tampa Bay 16 Carolina 14 Seattle 13 San Francisco 3 Atlanta 19 New Orleans 17 Cleveland 20 Cincinnati 18 Jacksonville 41 Tennessee 7 Minnesota 16 Green Bay 3 NY Giants 34 Dallas 17 Buffalo 35 NY Jets 8 Detroit 19 Chicago 16 Denver 19 LA Chargers 3 LA Rams 37 Arizona 20 Las Vegas 14 Kansas City 12 New England 38 Miami 10 Washington 24 Philadelphia 17 Houston 38 Indianapolis 30 Pittsburgh 26 Baltimore 24
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING BUCS: Irving 26-85, Mayfield 4-31, White 7-23, T.Johnson 1-5, Tucker 4-(-4). PANTHERS: Dowdle 7-10, Hubbard 5-10, Young 2-(-1). PASSING BUCS: Mayfield 22-16-203-1-1. PANTHERS: Young 35-24-266-1-2. RECEIVING BUCS: Otton 7-94, Evans 2-34, White 2-18, T.Johnson 1-17, Irving 1- 13, McMillan 1-11, Egbuka 1-8, Godwin 1-8. PANTHERS: Coker 6-47, McMillan 4-85, Tremble 3-38, Legette 3-22, Tremayne 2-27, Dowdke 2-20, Hubbard 2-7, Horn 1-15, Evans 1-5. INTERCEPTIONS BUCS: Parrish 1-0, PANTHERS: Rozeboom 1-20. KICK RETURNS BUCS: Tucker 3-57. PANTHERS: none. PUNT RETURNS BUCS: K.Johnson 0-0. PANTHERS: Etienne 1-3, Trmeayne 1-0. SACKS BUCS: none. PANTHERS: Moehrig 1-4, Barnes 0.5-0.5, Scourton 0.5-0.5
STARTERS OFFENSE DEFENSE LT 78 Otton DL 50 Vea LG 60 Jordan DL 95 Roberts C 62 Barton DL 90 Hall RG 65 Feeney OLB 5 Reddick RT 67 Goedecke ILB 54 David TE 88 Otton ILB 8 Dennis TE 87 Durham OLB 0 Diaby WR 14 Godwin CB 21 Morrison WR 13 Evans CB 25 Parrish QB 6 Mayfield S 23 Smith RB 7 Irving S 31 Winfield PLAYED 1 White, 2 Egbuka, 3 Walker, 4 McLaughlin, 9 Dixon, 11 McMillan, 15 T Johnson, 19 K Johnson, 22 Vildor, 29 Izien, 32 Hayes, 38 Wisdom, 43 Braswell, 44 Tucker, 45 Jones, 48 Gray, 58 Watts, 70 Chukwuma, 72 Haggard, 77 Heck, 82 Culp, 86 Deckers, 91 Pierre-Paul, 94 Kancey, 96 Gaines DID NOT PLAY 10 Bridgewater INACTIVES 16 Bazelak, 17 Shepard, 35 Dean, 79 Klein, 92 Simmons, 98 Nelson