Sports

Buc’s Handle Business, Trounce Panthers 48-14 for 1st Place

Tampa, FL – The Tampa Bay Buccaneers throttled the Carolina Panthers 48-14 at Raymond James Stadium. Combined with the Atlanta Falcons’ loss last night, the victory propelled Tampa Bay back into first place in the NFC South division.

Tampa Bay, Florida, USA, December 29, 2024, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield #6 readies to make a pass at Raymond James Stadium. (Photo Credit: Marty Jean-Louis)

Baker Mayfield continued his stellar play on Sunday, completing 27 of 32 passing attempts for 359 yards. He threw five touchdown passes and rushed for another, finishing the game with zero interceptions.

“He really played a heck of a ballgame, intelligently,” said Head Coach Todd Bowles of Mayfield. “We didn’t turn it over offensively, we were very good on third down, and he controlled the ball, spread it around, got everybody touches, and played a good ballgame.”

Wide receiver Mike Evans had a big game with eight catches for 97 yards and two touchdowns. Evans now has 915 receiving yards on the season and needs just 85 more in the season finale against New Orleans next weekend to eclipse 1,000 yards for the 11th consecutive season. He already holds the NFL record for the most such campaigns to start a career and could tie Hall of Famer Jerry Rice for the longest streak ever. Evans’ two touchdown catches pushed his career total to 105, just six behind Tony Gonzalez for eighth place in NFL history.

Tampa Bay, Florida, USA, December 8, 2024, Tampa Bay Buccaneers runningback Bucky Irving #7 makes a run at Raymond James Stadium. (Photo Credit: Marty Jean-Louis)

The Bucs are aiming for their fourth straight NFC South Division title, and the win gives them a 9-7 record. With the Atlanta Falcons losing to Washington 30-24 on Sunday night, Tampa Bay now sits in first place in the division. A victory next week against the New Orleans Saints in the regular season finale would secure the title.

Running back Irving had an outstanding performance, rushing for 113 yards on 20 carries—his third 100-yard game of the season—and achieving a season-high 190 yards from scrimmage. During the game, Irving surpassed the 1,000-yard rushing mark, becoming the first Buccaneer to do so since Doug Martin in 2015 and the first Bucs rookie to achieve the feat since Martin in 2012.

Rookie McMillan continued to emerge as a reliable number-two option in the absence of Chris Godwin. He caught five passes for 51 yards and found the end zone for the fourth consecutive game. McMillan hauled in scoring passes of 10 yards in the second quarter and 16 yards in the fourth, giving him six touchdowns over this four-game stretch.

The Buccaneers held the Panthers to 14 points, with five sacks on the day and one recovered fumble.

Tampa Bay, Florida, USA, December 29, 2024, Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young #9 gets tackled by Calijah Kancey #94 at Raymond James Stadium. (Photo Credit: Marty Jean-Louis)

Bryce Young passed for only 203 yards, for two touchdowns, and fumbled the ball twice, both recovered by the Panthers. Carolina managed only 354 yards total offense on the day.

A surprise visitor enlivened the game in the second half: a duck appeared near the 20-yard line. The female mallard, which was shown multiple times on the Jumbotron, became an instant fan favorite, leading to chants of “Ducky! Ducky! Ducky!”

The duck’s appearance coincided with outside linebacker Joe Tryon-Shoyinka blocking a punt. Inside linebacker J.J. Russell recovered the ball and returned it 23 yards for a touchdown, extending the score to 40-14.

The duck was eventually guided gently to the Bucs’ sideline without incident, much to the delight of fans.

The Bucs will host the New Orleans Saints next Sunday at 1 p.m. at Raymond James Stadium to wrap up the regular season.

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