On a rain-soaked Saturday that perfectly captured the chaos of the NFC South, Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers did just enough to survive — but not enough to celebrate.
Mayfield threw a touchdown pass to Cade Otton and Chase McLaughlin kicked three field goals as the Buccaneers avoided elimination with a sloppy 16-14 victory over the Carolina Panthers. Still, when the dust settled Sunday, it was Carolina — despite the loss — that emerged as the NFC South champion in a three-team tiebreaker.
Atlanta’s 19-17 win over New Orleans sealed the division outcome. The Panthers finished 8-9 and secured their first NFC South title since Ron Rivera and Cam Newton led them to a 15-1 season and a Super Bowl appearance a decade ago. Carolina becomes a rare division champion with a losing record, but held the crucial three-team tiebreaker over Tampa Bay and Atlanta.
The Buccaneers also finished 8-9 and own a two-team tiebreaker over Carolina, but needed the Saints to beat the Falcons to keep alive hopes of a fifth straight NFC South crown. That help never came.
Sloppy win, hollow result as Tampa Bay’s performance mirrored its season — uneven, mistake-filled, yet resilient.
Mayfield completed his first six passes and capped the Buccaneers’ opening drive with an 18-yard touchdown strike to Otton for a 7-0 lead. It was Otton’s first touchdown of the season and marked the third straight game Tampa Bay scored a touchdown on its opening possession.
The Bucs extended the lead to 10-0 after Mayfield misfired on a wide-open Payne Durham in the end zone, forcing McLaughlin to settle for a 29-yard field goal. Carolina quickly responded, turning a Christian Rozeboom interception into points. Rozeboom returned the pick 20 yards to the Tampa Bay 19, and Bryce Young followed with an 8-yard touchdown pass to Tommy Tremble to cut the deficit to 10-7.
Jacob Parrish intercepted Young late in the second quarter, setting up McLaughlin’s 36-yard field goal and a 13-7 halftime lead. McLaughlin added a 48-yarder early in the fourth quarter to make it 16-7.
But nothing came easy. After McLaughlin had a 38-yard attempt blocked with just over five minutes left, Carolina closed within 16-14 on Young’s 8-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Coker with 2:27 remaining.
Mayfield, who entered the game 0-8 in starts when throwing an interception, overcame his ninth pick in the last eight games by delivering the biggest play of the night — a 20-yard completion to Otton on third-and-4 that extended the Buccaneers’ final drive and drained precious seconds.
The Panthers got the ball back at their own 3-yard line with 18 seconds left and no timeouts. A desperate series of laterals ended with a fumble, sealing the Buccaneers’ win — and Carolina’s division title.
Carolina also had its missed chances. Ryan Fitzgerald came up short on a 54-yard field-goal attempt to open the second half, and Young was picked off twice. Still, the Panthers did enough over 17 games to survive the division’s tiebreaker maze.
For Tampa Bay, the night carried a sense of finality beyond the standings.
Legendary radio voice Gene Deckerhoff called his final regular-season game after 37 years behind the microphone. Longtime pillars of the franchise could also be nearing the end. Linebacker Lavonte David, a second-round pick in 2012, made one Pro Bowl and earned three All-Pro selections during a distinguished career. Wide receiver Mike Evans, the seventh overall pick in 2014, saw his streak of 1,000-yard seasons end after breaking his clavicle in October and missing several games.
The Panthers host a wild-card game as NFC South champions. The Buccaneers now turn the page on a frustrating, transitional season.
In the NFC South, winning doesn’t always mean celebrating — and losing doesn’t always mean going home.
