NFC South will be determined by Saints-Falcons game after Buccaneers keep season alive vs Panthers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers kept their season alive with a 16-14 win over the Carolina Panthers Saturday. Now the NFC South title will be determined in Sunday’s game between the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints, who have long been eliminated from playoff contention. 

Carolina had a chance to clinch the division with a win over Tampa Bay, but now the Panthers must depend on the Falcons to beat the Saints to preserve the division lead using tiebreakers. 

If the Saints win, Tampa Bay will take the division by virtue of the tiebreaker. 

The Buccaneers are hoping for their fifth straight division title, while the Panthers are hoping for their first division title since coach Ron Rivera and quarterback Cam Newton led them to a 15-1 record and a Super Bowl appearance since 2015. Every other team in the NFC South has won the division at least once since Carolina’s last division title. 

Carolina’s hope of clinching that title on Saturday ended as Baker Mayfield threw a touchdown pass to Cade Otton and Chase McLaughlin kicked three field goals to earn the two-point win, leaving the Panthers with almost no time to win the game on the game’s final series.

After McLaughlin’s 38-yard field goal try was blocked with just over five minutes remaining, Carolina got within 16-14 on Bryce Young’s 8-yard TD pass to Jalen Coker with 2:27 left.

Mayfield tossed a short pass to Otton for a 20-yard gain on third and 4 to extend Tampa Bay’s drive and run off more time. The Panthers got the ball back at their 3-yard line with 18 seconds and no timeouts. The game ended in a desperate series of laterals that resulted in a fumble.

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Mayfield connected with Otton on an 18-yard TD pass for a 7-0 lead as the Bucs scored a touchdown on their opening drive for the third straight game. It was Otton’s first TD of the season.

Down 10-0, the Panthers turned Christian Rozeboom’s interception into a quick score. Rozeboom returned the pick 20 yards to Tampa Bay’s 19. Young then connected with Tommy Tremble on an 8-yard TD pass to cut it to 10-7.

Jacob Parrish picked off Young late in the second half, and the Buccaneers got a 36-yard field goal from McLaughlin to take a 13-7 halftime lead.

McLaughlin kicked a 48-yard field goal early in the fourth to extend Tampa Bay’s lead.

Carolina’s Ryan Fitzgerald missed a 54-yarder on the opening drive of the third quarter.

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Mayfield completed his first six passes before misfiring on a cross-field, 13-yard toss to Payne Durham, who was wide open in the end zone. The Bucs settled for McLaughlin’s 29-yard field goal and a 10-0 lead. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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