Well, wins are still wins.<\/p>\n
As horrible as the last two months have gone for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, their playoff hopes still glimmer after yet another messy, rain-soaked game in the confines of Raymond James Stadium. Despite the defense almost blowing it, again, the Panthers couldn\u2019t surmount their own mistakes and some questionable officiating as the Bucs won 16-14.<\/p>\n
All the same struggles of the last 8-9 games were still apparent in some form \u2014 turnovers, unacceptable special teams mistakes, busted coverages \/ limited pass rush \u2014 but a repeat of Tampa\u2019s ball-control heavy game plan from the first matchup won out this time around.<\/p>\n
Tampa needs to be New Orleans Saints fans Sunday, as a win from the latter over the Atlanta Falcons would grant the Bucs their 5th straight division title and 6th straight playoff appearance. I\u2019m not sure how you could argue they deserve it, but someone\u2019s got to make the tournament.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s do possibly the final shoutouts of the year and then play the waiting game.<\/p>\n
Offensive Top Performer: TE Cade Otton<\/p>\n
It took all season, but Otton finally found the endzone in the team\u2019s most important game. After recording the most targets and catches of any player in the NFL without a touchdown, Otton struck paydirt on the team\u2019s opening drive with an 18-yard grab.<\/p>\n
He stayed hot from there, serving as a vital safety valve for Baker Mayfield\u2019s Houdini acts en route to his best stat line of the season: 7 catches for 94 yards and the score, including the game-clinching first down reception at the 2-minute warning. Otton has been stuck doing the dirty work in the trenches for a large chunk of 2025, but he\u2019s proven to be a reliable performer in whatever area the team asks him to contribute.<\/p>\n
While it wasn\u2019t perfect, this was also easily Mayfield\u2019s best game in many weeks. He still threw an inexcusable pick, but he largely succeeded in blending decisive strikes in the quick passing games with his trademark swagger and escapability on gotta-have-it downs. He finished 16 of 22 for 203 yards passing, 1 touchdown and 1 interception, as well as 4 carries for 31 yards. If the team squeezes into the playoff picture, it will need this version of him and then some.<\/p>\n
Defensive Top Performer: LB Lavonte David<\/p>\n
If it\u2019s the last time we see Lavonte David suit up in red and pewter, at least it came in a victory.<\/p>\n
The franchise legend made it a potential finale to remember. He not only led the team in tackles (6), but in doing so tied Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks for the most tackles in franchise history (1,714) and sixth-most in NFL history. The national media accolades may have evaded David in a way they never did for Brooks, but it\u2019s not at all outlandish to say David\u2019s impact on the franchise sits close to Brooks\u2019.<\/p>\n
To add to that sentiment, David also recovered a key fumble late in the game with the Panthers threatening in Tampa territory. The recovery marked his 35th career takeaway and 21st fumble recovery (both most of active players at linebacker). He joined Hall of Famers Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher as the only players with 40-plus sacks and 35-plus takeaways since at least 1982.<\/p>\n
As one saga draws to a presumptive close, another may just be getting started with rookie corner Jacob Parrish. Parrish has been very good all season, and he closed it out with a key interception (his third takeaway of the season) and 3 tackles. He\u2019s produced despite getting split a significant amount between nickelback and outside corner due to injuries to everyone else. For him to handle so much on his plate and produce is very encouraging for a team that desperately needs some long-term stability at the position.<\/p>\n
Special Teams Top Performer: P Riley Dixon<\/p>\n
Special teams mostly sucked again, big surprise.<\/p>\n
But ultimately, the unit needed only one big play, and it got exactly that from Riley Dixon. While he\u2019s endured a rollercoaster first season in Tampa, he dropped a beauty of a punt with less than 30 seconds remaining in the contest, having it downed at the 3-yard line to essentially eliminate the possibility of a possible game-winning field goal attempt for Carolina.<\/p>\n
With how beleaguered the team\u2019s defense has been, especially in 2-minute situations, that punt couldn\u2019t have come at a more critical moment. Dixon performed well overall, dropping all three of his punts inside the 20.<\/p>\n
With any luck, the unavoidable changes that are coming to the unit in 2026 should hopefully bolster Dixon\u2019s consistency as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Well, wins are still wins. As horrible as the last two months have gone for the Tampa Bay…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":652244,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2075],"tags":[235,260,2567,7,6,236,86858,62938],"class_list":{"0":"post-652243","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-carolina-panthers","8":"tag-carolina","9":"tag-carolina-panthers","10":"tag-carolinapanthers","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-nfl","13":"tag-panthers","14":"tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers-analysis","15":"tag-tampa-bay-buccaneers-scores-results"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115834631627494494","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=652243"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652243\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/652244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=652243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=652243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=652243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}