The Bucs defeat the Panthers and stay in the race for first place in the NFC South

Baker Mayfield threw five touchdowns and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers stayed atop the NFC South by defeating the visiting Carolina Panthers 48-14 on Sunday afternoon.

Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan both caught two TD passes and Bucky Irving rushed for 113 yards, making Tampa Bay’s second win of the month against Carolina much easier than the road version in overtime.

Mayfield completed 27 of 32 passes for 359 yards and Evans caught eight balls for 97 yards. The Buccaneers (9-7) amassed 551 yards of total offense.

The Panthers (4-12) have lost five of their last six despite Bryce Young throwing two touchdown passes to Adam Thielen (five catches, 110 yards). Young finished 15-for-28 passing for 203 yards, but Carolina managed just 39 rushing yards as it played without injured top running back Chuba Hubbard.

Both TD throws from Mayfield to Evans were short (2 yards, 1 yard). Mayfield’s scoring throws to McMillian covered 10 and 16 yards. He also had a 5-yard throw to Payne Durham for the first score of the second half.

The Buccaneers also scored on JJ Russell’s blocked punt return during a 25-second span of the third quarter when they put up 14 points.

Chase McLaughlin hit field goals of 23 and 34 yards for the Buccaneers, who must finish with a better record than the Atlanta Falcons in the division race as the tiebreaker favors Atlanta, which plays at Washington on Sunday night. Tampa Bay hosts New Orleans next weekend while Carolina plays in Atlanta.

After Carolina scored on its first possession, the next three offensive series resulted in a total of minus-6 yards and three punts. The Buccaneers scored 17 points after those defensive stops.

The Panthers perked up, rushing 70 yards in 21 seconds and scoring on Young’s 40-yard pass to Theilen with 50 seconds left in the half. They got the ball back after a Tampa Bay punt and were in position to score ten points in the final minute of the half until Eddy Pineiro’s 53-yard field goal attempt missed.

Carolina gave up more points this year than in any other season in franchise history, although Tampa Bay fell four points shy of the most points the Panthers had ever allowed in a game.

–Field level media