The Carolina Panthers led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by six points going into the fourth quarter of Sunday’s NFC South divisional game. The lead should have been much larger. However, two missed field goals and a questionable “non-touchdown” by Adam Thielen kept the Bucs within striking distance. After striking first with a 1-yard touchdown reception by Mike Evans in the first quarter after a defensive pass interference call in the end zone, Tampa Bay’s offense was pretty quiet the rest of the half. Carolina cut the lead to 4 with a 47-yarder by Pineiro with less than a minute left in the opening quarter.
A chance to trim the lead, and etch his name into the Carolina history books, was lost when Pineiro missed from 38 yards out. A make would have put him past Graham Gano with 42 straight field goals made. Alas, the Panthers still trailed by 4 until quarterback Bryce Young scrambled from 10 yards out to give Carolina a 10-7 lead. The Bucs answered with a Chase McLaughlin field goal to tie things up at 10. Carolina missed a chance to grab the lead back when Pineiro missed his second straight field goal. However, redemption came in the form of a 27 yard field goal before the half after rookie Chau Smith-Wade intercepted Baker Mayfield. Panthers fans would have much rather had the six points from what looked to be a touchdown reception by Thielen who got both a knee and elbow down in the end zone before the refs ruled the play an incomplete pass.
Nursing a 13-10 lead coming into the second half, the Panthers defense was swarming – Amare Barno and Josey Jewell recorded back to back sacks. Mayfield left the game for less than a full series before coming back and being picked off by Xavier Woods. There was a healthy dose of rookie Jonathon Brooks as the Panthers got all the way down to the 4 yard line before settling for the field goal and a 6-point lead with 19 seconds left in the third quarter.
As previously stated, the game was too close. The Bucs lingered and lingered and took the lead on a Bucky Irving rush with 8:53 to play. A big 43 yard gain on Tampa Bay’s next possession set up a field goal to extend the lead to 4 with a little over 3 minutes left in the game. Driving down the field with time ticking, Young hit Thielen in the end zone for the go-ahead score with 30 seconds remaining.That was enough for Mayfield and company, who drove down and tied the game on a 51-yard field goal as time expired.
Tampa Bay won the toss and elected to receive the ball first in overtime. McLaughlin’s miss from 55 yards out gave the Panthers life. Taking over at his own 45, Young led the Panthers down to the Tampa Bay 34 yard line and it looked like a few safe plays would lead to a Pineiro field goal attempt; and the win. However, running back Chuba Hubbard fumbled at the 30 and the ball was recovered by Tampa at the 29. Three plays later, Rachaad White rambled 38 yards down to the 10 yard line to set up the game winning field goal and send the Panthers to 3-9 while the Bucs improved to 6-6.
