To the surprise of many, the 2025 Carolina Panthers have set themselves up for meaningful December football. Heck, to their credit, it’s actually meaningful late-December football.

That feeling hasn’t been experienced much in Charlotte over the past seven seasons, as the team hasn’t made the playoffs since 2017. But now, the city will be hosting one of, if not the most consequential game of Week 16.

Here are our biggest storylines for Sunday’s massive showdown with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers:

The time is now

Carolina and Tampa Bay have both entered Week 16 at 7-7 and tied atop the NFC South, with a division title representing their only avenues to postseason play. This contest marks the first of two matchups between these teams over the season’s last three weeks, so landing the initial punch will be crucial.

How crucial is it for the Panthers? Well, if they win, their playoff probability—according to The Athletic—will rise from 22 percent to 42 percent. If they lose, however, it’ll free-fall to four percent.

This’ll be Carolina’s first clear shot at taking back the division this late into a campaign since Week 17 of 2022, when they faced Tampa Bay on the road. Unfortunately, after blowing leads of 14 and 11 points, they crumbled into a painstaking 30-24 defeat.

The Panthers will now have a chance at a little attitude adjustment against the Bucs, who have had a lock on the NFC South since 2021.

Boogeyman

The star of that 30-24 Tampa Bay win in 2022 was wideout Mike Evans, who stacked up a ridiculous 207 yards and three touchdowns on 10 catches. In fact, the future Hall of Famer has been the star in just about every Panthers-Bucs matchup since that season—as he’s averaged 117.0 receiving yards with seven touchdowns over his last six games versus Carolina.

It seemed like the 32-year-old had finally slowed down this year, thanks to hamstring and collarbone injuries that sidelined him for a combined nine games. But, upon his return in last week’s loss to the Atlanta Falcons, Evans got right back to it—reeling in six grabs for 132 yards.

To snatch a victory here in Week 16, the Carolina defense will probably have to limit the damage Evans can still do.

Signature moment?

What else can you really ask for if you’re the Panthers? You’ll be playing for a huge step towards a division title in front of a fired-up home crowd here in late December.

Those thrilling circumstances present an opportunity at the signature moment for second-year head coach Dave Canales and third-year quarterback Bryce Young. And to do it, they’ll have to take advantage of a struggling Bucs defense.

Tampa has allowed the third-most passing yards per game (246.9) and the fifth-most passing yards per attempt (7.7). They’ll also be coming in down one of their two starting cornerbacks in Zyon McCollum, forcing more work for rookies Jacob Parrish and Benjamin Morrison.

Canales and Young can cook up a defining victory if they can cook up this vulnerable passing defense. So can they (with or without left tackle Ikem Ekwonu) capture a slice of glory?

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