Tampa Bay Buccaneers 16, Carolina Panthers 14 | January 3, 2026 | Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL
Game at a Glance
Date
January 3, 2026
Venue
Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL
Attendance
65,082
Conditions
Rain
Broadcast
ABC / ESPN
Final Score
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 16, Carolina Panthers 14
Winning QB
Baker Mayfield — 16/22, 198 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Losing QB
Bryce Young — 24/35, 266 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
Leading Rusher
Bucky Irving (TB) — 26 car, 85 yds
Leading Receiver
Cade Otton (TB) — 7 rec, 94 yds, 1 TD
Top Defensive Player
Derrick Brown (CAR) — 13 tackles
Rain soaked Raymond James Stadium from early in the afternoon. Baker Mayfield threw an interception, a Chase McLaughlin field goal was blocked late in the fourth quarter, and Tampa Bay’s run game averaged a modest 3.3 yards a carry. The Buccaneers still won.
Tampa Bay beat the Carolina Panthers 16–14 in the final regular season game of 2025, a result that kept the Buccaneers’ NFC South title bid alive with one day left on the calendar. The difference between the two 8–9 teams came down to ball security and clock. Bucky Irving carried 26 times for 85 yards, Tampa Bay held possession for 37:25, and Carolina turned the ball over three times — two lost fumbles and a Bryce Young interception — in a game it needed to win outright to control its own postseason fate.
Young was efficient when the ball reached his receivers. He finished 24-of-35 for 266 yards and two touchdowns, but the Panthers’ running game produced just 19 yards on 14 carries, and their three turnovers handed Tampa Bay a field position advantage it never gave back. Jalen Coker’s 8-yard touchdown catch with 2:27 remaining cut the deficit to two, but a Mayfield completion to Cade Otton on third-and-4 bled the clock and left Carolina no path back.
Tommy Tremble 8-yd pass from Bryce Young (Fitzgerald kick) — 3 plays, 19 yds, 1:28
TB 10–7
2nd
0:02
TB
Chase McLaughlin 36-yd FG — 7 plays, 40 yds, 1:49
TB 13–7
4th
14:12
TB
Chase McLaughlin 48-yd FG — 9 plays, 39 yds, 5:18
TB 16–7
4th
2:27
CAR
Jalen Coker 8-yd pass from Bryce Young (Fitzgerald kick) — 8 plays, 72 yds, 2:45
TB 16–14
Passing Statistics
Player
Team
C/ATT
YDS
AVG
TD
INT
SACKS
RTG
QBR
Baker Mayfield
TB
16/22
198
9.2
1
1
2–5
97.3
73.5
Bryce Young
CAR
24/35
266
7.6
2
1
0–0
98.0
44.9
Rushing Statistics
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Player
CAR
YDS
AVG
TD
LONG
Bucky Irving
26
85
3.3
0
9
Baker Mayfield
4
31
7.8
0
11
Rachaad White
7
23
3.3
0
7
Tez Johnson
1
5
5.0
0
5
Sean Tucker
4
-4
-1.0
0
3
Team
42
140
3.3
0
11
Carolina Panthers
Player
CAR
YDS
AVG
TD
LONG
Rico Dowdle
7
10
1.4
0
4
Chuba Hubbard
5
10
2.0
0
5
Bryce Young
2
-1
-0.5
0
0
Team
14
19
1.4
0
5
Receiving Statistics
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Player
REC
TGT
YDS
AVG
TD
LONG
Cade Otton
7
9
94
13.4
1
22
Mike Evans
2
2
34
17.0
0
21
Rachaad White
2
2
18
9.0
0
11
Tez Johnson
1
1
17
17.0
0
17
Bucky Irving
1
2
13
13.0
0
13
Jalen McMillan
1
1
11
11.0
0
11
Chris Godwin Jr.
1
1
8
8.0
0
8
Emeka Egbuka
1
3
8
8.0
0
8
Payne Durham
0
1
0
—
0
0
Team
16
22
203
12.7
1
22
Carolina Panthers
Player
REC
TGT
YDS
AVG
TD
LONG
Tetairoa McMillan
4
6
85
21.3
0
40
Jalen Coker
6
7
47
7.8
1
18
Tommy Tremble
3
4
38
12.7
1
17
Brycen Tremayne
2
2
27
13.5
0
20
Xavier Legette
3
4
22
7.3
0
12
Rico Dowdle
2
2
20
10.0
0
25
Jimmy Horn Jr.
1
1
15
15.0
0
15
Chuba Hubbard
2
2
7
3.5
0
5
Mitchell Evans
1
2
5
5.0
0
5
Team
24
30
266
11.1
2
40
Defensive Statistics
Carolina Panthers
Player
TOT
SOLO
SACKS
TFL
PD
QB HTS
Derrick Brown
13
5
0.0
0
0
0
Nick Scott
9
6
0.0
0
0
0
Christian Rozeboom
8
6
0.0
0
2
0
Mike Jackson
7
4
0.0
0
0
0
Tre’von Moehrig
6
4
1.0
2
0
1
Krys Barnes
6
2
0.5
1
0
1
D.J. Wonnum
5
4
0.0
0
0
0
Nic Scourton
5
2
0.5
0
0
1
A’Shawn Robinson
5
1
0.0
0
0
1
Chau Smith-Wade
4
3
0.0
0
0
0
Trevis Gipson
2
1
0.0
0
0
0
Princely Umanmielen
2
1
0.0
1
0
0
Thomas Incoom
2
1
0.0
0
0
0
Lathan Ransom
2
0
0.0
0
1
0
Bobby Brown III
1
1
0.0
1
0
0
Maema Njongmeta
1
1
0.0
0
0
0
LaBryan Ray
1
0
0.0
0
0
0
Cam Jackson
1
0
0.0
0
0
0
Bam Martin-Scott
1
0
0.0
0
0
0
Team
81
42
2.0
5
3
4
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Player
TOT
SOLO
SACKS
TFL
PD
QB HTS
Lavonte David
6
5
0.0
0
0
0
Tykee Smith
5
4
0.0
0
0
0
Yaya Diaby
4
3
0.0
1
0
0
Vita Vea
3
3
0.0
1
0
0
Jacob Parrish
3
3
0.0
0
1
0
Antoine Winfield Jr.
3
1
0.0
0
1
0
J.T. Gray
2
2
0.0
0
0
0
Christian Izien
2
2
0.0
0
0
0
SirVocea Dennis
2
2
0.0
1
0
0
Haason Reddick
2
1
0.0
0
0
0
Benjamin Morrison
2
1
0.0
0
0
0
Mike Evans
1
1
0.0
0
0
0
Elijah Roberts
1
1
0.0
0
0
0
Greg Gaines
1
0
0.0
0
0
0
Logan Hall
1
0
0.0
0
0
0
Calijah Kancey
0
0
0.0
0
0
1
Team
38
29
0.0
3
2
1
Turnovers
Interceptions
Player
Team
INT
Return Yds
TD
Christian Rozeboom
CAR
1
20
0
Jacob Parrish
TB
1
0
0
Fumbles
Player
Team
FUM
LOST
REC
Rico Dowdle
CAR
1
1
1
Tetairoa McMillan
CAR
1
1
0
Bryce Young
CAR
1
0
0
Baker Mayfield
TB
1
0
1
Sean Tucker
TB
1
0
0
Lavonte David
TB
0
0
1
Rashad Wisdom
TB
0
0
1
Benjamin Morrison
TB
0
0
1
Special Teams
Kicking
Player
Team
FG
PCT
FG Attempts
LONG
XP
PTS
Chase McLaughlin
TB
3/4
75.0%
29, 36, 48 made; 38 blocked
48
1/1
10
Ryan Fitzgerald
CAR
0/1
0.0%
54 missed
—
2/2
2
Punting
Player
Team
NO
YDS
AVG
TB
IN 20
LONG
Riley Dixon
TB
3
130
43.3
0
3
46
Sam Martin
CAR
3
139
46.3
1
1
50
Kick Returns
Player
Team
NO
YDS
AVG
LONG
TD
Sean Tucker
TB
3
57
19.0
21
0
No Carolina kick returns recorded.
Punt Returns
Player
Team
NO
YDS
AVG
LONG
TD
Trevor Etienne
CAR
1
3
3.0
3
0
Brycen Tremayne
CAR
1
0
0.0
0
0
No Tampa Bay punt returns recorded.
Full Team Stats — Panthers vs Buccaneers
Stat
CAR
TB
Final Score
14
16
Total Yards
285
338
Total Plays
49
66
Yards per Play
5.8
5.1
1st Downs
16
21
— Passing
13
12
— Rushing
1
7
— Penalty
2
2
Passing Yards
266
198
Comp / Att
24/35
16/22
Yards per Pass
7.6
8.3
Sacks – Yards Lost
0–0
2–5
Rushing Yards
19
140
Rushing Attempts
14
42
Yards per Rush
1.4
3.3
3rd Down
1/8 (12.5%)
8/15 (53.3%)
4th Down
2/2 (100%)
0/0
Red Zone (Made/Att)
2/2
1/3
Penalties
5 – 46 yds
6 – 45 yds
Turnovers
3
1
— Fumbles Lost
2
0
— Interceptions
1
1
Time of Possession
22:35
37:25
Game Information
Date
January 3, 2026
Kickoff
4:30 PM ET, January 3 / 2:30 AM PKT, January 4
Venue
Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL
Attendance
65,082
Broadcast
ABC / ESPN
Referee
Brad Allen
Down Judge
Sarah Thomas
Field Judge
Rick Patterson
Line Judge
Walter Flowers
Side Judge
Chad Hill
Back Judge
Tyree Walton
Umpire
Marcus Woods
Tampa Bay’s win was a formality without an ending. The Buccaneers held the two-team tiebreaker over Carolina but needed the New Orleans Saints — a team Mayfield had openly feuded with earlier in the season — to beat the Atlanta Falcons on the road the following day to claim the NFC South. Carolina held the three-team tiebreaker over Tampa Bay if Atlanta also finished 8–9, meaning a Falcons win handed the Panthers their first division title since 2015.
For a handful of players on both rosters, this was their last NFL regular season game in a Tampa Bay or Carolina uniform, and possibly their last in the league. Lavonte David, a second-round pick in 2012 and a fixture of the Buccaneers’ linebacker corps for 13 seasons, finished with six tackles. Mike Evans — the No. 7 overall pick in 2014 who had recorded 1,000 receiving yards every year of his career until a broken clavicle shortened this one — caught two passes for 34 yards. Gene Deckerhoff, the radio voice of the Buccaneers for 37 years, called his final regular season game. The numbers above are what they left behind.
Stats sourced from ESPN box score and AP Wire. Standard stats per Pro Football Reference conventions.
I'm Tony S. Elder, a Washington-based journalist with more than six years of reporting experience across local and digital newsrooms. I hold a BA in Journalism and have covered everything from breaking national news and international affairs to sports, politics, technology, entertainment, celebrity news, automotive, gaming, and culture. In April 2026, I founded The Edge Post to build a publication where every story, regardless of the beat, is reported and verified to the same professional standard. I report, write, and edit every piece published on this site.
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