The Tampa Bay Buccaneers fired out of their bye week with a dominant road win over the New York Giants, piling up 450 yards in a 30-7 decision. They'll head back out on the road next weekend, this time to face a divisional opponent in the Carolina Panthers. The game is scheduled for a 4:05 p.m. ET kickoff at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Bucs improved to 5-6 with their win in New Jersey, snapping a four-game losing streak and pulling to within a game of the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC South standings. The Panthers are 3-8 but have won two of their last three and are coming off a thrilling contest against the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.
The Panthers stormed back from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit to tie the Chiefs at 27-27 on a Chuba Hubbard touchdown run followed by Hubbard's successful two-point conversion with less than two minutes to play. As usual, however, that was enough time for Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes to work his end-game magic, as his 33-yard scramble was the key play in the drive that led to a walk-off field goal by Spencer Shrader.
Carolina logged a pair of three-point wins over the Saints and Giants prior to their Week 11 bye. Second-year quarterback Bryce Young has regained his job after being benched in favor of veteran Andy Dalton, and against the Chiefs he threw for 263 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions. Hubbard continued a breakout season that saw him recently land a contract extension.
The Buccaneers welcomed the returns of wide receiver Mike Evans and cornerback Jamel Dean in Week 12 but may have lost safety Jordan Whitehead to a pectoral injury in the win over the Giants. Evans had five catches for 68 yards in his first game back, as quarterback Baker Mayfield distributed the ball to 11 different pass-catchers in a 294-yard performance. The Buccaneers' defense sacked Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito four times and held New York to 245 yards of offense.
The Bucs are aiming for a finish to the season similar to last year, when they won five of their last six to capture a third-straight division title. The Falcons have a head-to-head sweep as an ironclad tiebreaker if the Bucs can't move past them in the standings, so every game down the stretch is important, and doubly so against a division opponent. The Bucs are in must-win mode as the calendar nears December, and the contest in Charlotte in Week 13 could prove to be critical.
