Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers met the Carolina Panthers on Saturday afternoon with the NFC South and a playoff spot on the line. And one incident exemplified the gravity of the game.
With just under three and a half minutes to play and his team up 7-0, the multiple-time Pro Bowl quarterback collided head-first with cornerback Mike Jackson at the end of a rushing play. The two then exchanged heated words as multiple Tampa Bay players tried to separate them.
Jackson was eventually given an unsportsmanlike penalty for taunting, which meant a new set of downs. The Buccaneers took advantage to get Chase McLaughlin in position for a 29-yard field goal.
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The Panthers eventually struck back in the second quarter, as Christian Rozeboom intercepted Mayfield early on. That turnover set Bryce Young up for a passing touchdown to tight end Tommy Tremble.
They later forced a punt on the Buccaneers’ next drive, but any hopes of fully seizing the initiative were dashed when Jacob Parrish beat Tetairoa McMillan to the ball for a pick.
McLaughlin made a 36-yarder to cap off the ensuing drive.
Mayfield finished the first half having completed ten of fifteen attempts for 130 yards. Four of those catches went to Cade Otton for 54 yards. Young, meanwhile, took seven passes to cover 75 yards, a third of which (25) went to McMillan.
Bucs-Panthers second-half recap
The Panthers began the second half disastrously, as Bryce Young nearly lost the ball in Bucs territory before Rico Dowdle recovered it. The drive continued, but it ended when Ryan Fitzgerald missed a 54-yarder.
Both sides then exchanged punts – a sequence that occupied most of the rest of the third quarter. It ended in the fourth when Chase McLaughlin hit his third field goal of the day.
More disaster then struck the Panthers, as Dowdle slipped after a handoff, allowing Lavonte David to jump onto the ball for a turnover. However, they blocked the ensuing field goal attempt to regain possession. And Bryce Young capitalized, hitting Jalen Coker for six to make it a one-possession game.
Desperation entered the Bucs’ minds, and Cade Otton repaid that mentality with a massive 20-yard gain inside opposing territory before the two-minute warning. However, rather than kick a decisive field goal, the hosts elected to punt.
Riley Dixon pinned the ball at the 3, giving Young little room. The quarterback still found Coker for 18, setting up one last huge play. It ended in a lost fumble.
