Buccaneers Dominate Panthers to Earn Second Win of Season

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-5) capitalized on three first-half turnovers by the Carolina Panthers (3-3) and jumped out to an early 27-point lead to pick up their second win on the season and open NFC South Division play 1-0 in a 43-13 victory on Sunday in Charlotte, N.C.

The Buccaneers defense held the NFL’s top passing offense to just 178 yards and forced four total turnovers while running back Bucky Irving put the offense on his back with 106 rushing yards and two touchdowns in quarterback Baker Mayfield’s return.

Mayfield completed just seven passes on 11 attempts for 64 yards and a touchdown, but Tampa Bay rushed for 258 yards as a team and dominated the time of possession to pick up its second consecutive win against division-rival Panthers.

Wanting to get Mayfield going early, the Buccaneers elected to receive the opening kickoff after winning the toss and got right to work.

While all eyes were on Mayfield and his return, Tampa Bay leaned on its No. 8-ranked rushing attack and Irving on the opening drive. Chewing up nearly eight minutes Irving had 10 carries for 47 yards and capped the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run to give the Buccaneers a 7-0 lead with 7:22 left in the first quarter.

After Carolina forced Tampa Bay to punt on its next drive, the special teams unit broke the game open. On fourth-and-5, Carolina returner David Moore was unable to field the Riley Dixon punt. Tight end Ko Kieft jumped on the muffed punt at the Carolina 18-yard-line with 56 seconds left in the first. The Panthers held the Buccaneers to a Chase McLaughlin 22-yard field goal with 14:15 left in the second quarter after the turnover.

Five plays later, on third-and-14, outside linebacker Al-Quadin Muhammad sacked and stripped Young. Defensive tackle Calijah Kancey then scooped up the ball and rumbled 32 yards and flipped into the end zone to give the Buccaneers a 17-0 lead with 11:05 left in the first half.

Young then made up for the fumble by getting the Panthers on the scoreboard with a 50-yard touchdown strike to tight end Darren Waller with 9:09 left in the second quarter, but the Tampa Bay special teams struck again.

On the ensuing extra-point attempt, the Buccaneers blocked the Ryan Fitzgerald try and cornerback Zyon McCollum returned it for a two-point conversion to extend the lead to 19-6.

The Buccaneers continued to lean on the rushing attack as Irving rushed for 26 yards on the following drive and registered his second touchdown of the game on a 1-yard run with 3:54 left in the first half and gave Tampa Bay a 26-6 lead.

Three plays later, McCollum added to his already big day by intercepting a Young pass at the 50 and returning it to the Carolina 32 with 2:30 left in the second quarter. Mayfield then notched his first touchdown pass since returning, connecting with wide receiver Tez Johnson on a 14-yard pass to extend the lead to 33-6 at halftime.

The second half was more of the same with the defense setting up the offense. After trading punts on the first two drives of the second half, Tampa Bay safety Tykee Smith registered the Buccaneers’ fourth takeaway of the game. On second-and-10, Smith intercepted Young’s pass at the Carolina 32-yard-line with 8:59 left in the third quarter. The Buccaneers settled for another McLaughlin field goal from 44 yards out to make the score 36-6 with 6:30 left in the third quarter.

The Panthers got into the red zone for the first time of the game late in the third, but Young’s incomplete pass on fourth-and-1 at the Tampa Bay 5 gave the ball back to the Buccaneers. 

With Irving out of the game after averaging 4.4 yards per carry, running back Sean Tucker gave the Buccaneers’ their first 40-plus-point game since 2024 with a 46-yard touchdown run with 10:22 left in the game. 

With backup quarterback Kenny Pickett in for Young, the Panthers would score the final points of the game on a 12-yard run by Anthony Tyus III to make it 43-13 with 5:29 left in the fourth quarter.

Carolina came into the game as the No. 2 team in total offense, averaging 404.4 total yards per game, but were held to just 266 total yards in the loss to Tampa Bay.

The Buccaneers will look to win back-to-back NFC South Division games when they take on the Atlanta Falcons (3-4) in Tampa Bay on Nov. 1.