Buccaneers fans are going to be big Commanders fans on Sunday night.
Baker Mayfield threw five touchdowns and the Buccaneers cruised to a 48-14 home win over the Panthers that will turn them into scoreboard watchers later in the day. If the Commanders beat the Falcons in Sunday’s nightcap, the Bucs will be able to win the NFC South by beating the Saints in Week 18.
Should the Falcons prevail, the Bucs will need a win and a Panthers rebound against Atlanta in the regular season finale.
It’s the second time in Mayfield’s career that he has thrown five touchdowns, but the first time he’s done it in a Bucs uniform. He’s now up to 39 on the season, which ties him with Lamar Jackson for second place behind Joe Burrow in the league this year.
Mayfield finished with 359 passing yards, which gives him a career high of 4,279 passing yards with a chance to add to both totals next weekend.
The first two touchdown passes went to Mike Evans, who now has 105 of them in his career. Evans caught eight passes for 97 yards overall and now needs 85 yards next week in order to run his streak of 1,000-yard receiving seasons to 11 in a row. That seemed unlikely when Evans missed three games with a hamstring injury earlier this season, but it looks like a decent bet given the groove he and Mayfield were in on Sunday.
Running back Bucky Irving chipped in 190 yards from scrimmage and the Bucs racked up 551 yards of offense overall on Sunday.
They’ll hope the Commanders can have the same kind of success later on Sunday and that the Saints defense offers as little resistance in Week 18 as the Panthers did this Sunday.
It will take a collapse of epic proportions for the Bucs to go into Week 18 without a chance of winning the NFC South.
Joe Tryon-Shoyinka blocked a punt by Panthers punter Johnny Hekker with just over five minutes to play in the third quarter and J.J. Russell scooped the ball up for 23-yard touchdown return. The score made it 41-14 Buccaneers on their home field.
With a Bucs win on Sunday, they’ll need a Week 18 win over the Saints and one Falcons loss in their final two games to win the division. The Falcons play the Commanders on Sunday night this week and they’ll close with the Panthers.
The Russell touchdown was the second of the second half for Tampa. Baker Mayfield threw his fourth touchdown pass of the afternoon to cap a 94-yard drive earlier in the quarter.
The Buccaneers had a costly stumble against the Cowboys last Sunday, but they appear to be back on track this weekend.
Quarterback Baker Mayfield hit wide receiver Jalen McMillian for a 10-yard touchdown with 1:11 left to play in the first half to send the Bucs into the break with a 27-7 lead over the visiting Panthers. It was Mayfield’s third touchdown pass of the afternoon and he has now thrown 37 touchdowns on the season.
Mayfield’s first two touchdown passes went to wide receiver Mike Evans, who is up to 11 touchdowns on the season. He had six catches for 48 yards and is now up to 866 yards as he tries to hit the 1,000-yard mark for the 11th straight season.
Mayfield is 16-of-20 for 225 yards and running back Bucky Irving has posted 137 yards from scrimmage against a Panthers defense that looks overmatched without linebacker Josey Jewell and cornerback Jaycee Horn on the field. Bryce Young was able to drive them for a touchdown on their first possession of the day, but they didn’t pick up another first half until there was less than a minute left in the half.
Young followed that first down up with a 40-yard bomb to Adam Thielen for a touchdown and a three-and-out on the ensuing possession allowed the Panthers to drive in position for a 53-yard Eddy Pineiro field goal try. The kick sailed wide to the left and the whole package still has the Bucs in good position to get their ninth win of the year. If they finish the job, they’ll have a chance to win the NFC South in Week 18.
The Buccaneers opened Sunday’s scoring with a pass to wide receiver Mike Evans and Baker Mayfield extended their lead by going back his way in the second quarter.
Evans caught a one-yard pass from Mayfield to give the Bucs a 20-7 lead with over eight minutes to play in the half. Evans is now up to 11 touchdowns on the season and 105 for his career.
While Evans got the touchdown, running back Bucky Irving did the heavy lifting. Irving followed a 34-yard run with a 42-yard catch to put the Bucs on the lip of the end zone.
Mayfield is now 11-of-13 for 170 yards on the day. He’s over 4,000 passing yards for the season, which makes him 2-for-2 on that front since coming to Tampa.
The Buccaneers had no trouble driving for a touchdown to open Sunday’s game against the Panthers and the Panthers had no trouble answering with one of their own.
Quarterback Bryce Young ended the six-play drive with a 17-yard touchdown strike to wide receiver Adam Thielen. The extra point made it 7-7 with 8:15 left in the first quarter.
Young’s recent play has been encouraging for the Panthers and the opening drive was right in line. He had a 31-yard completion to Thielen earlier in the drive and also hit Jalen Coker for a 15-yard gain.
The Panthers spoiled the Cardinals’ playoff hopes last weekend and they’re trying to do the same to their divisional rivals this Sunday. If Young keeps dealing, they might pull it off.
Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans is bidding to keep his 1,000-yard receiving streak alive and he’s off to a good start on Sunday.
Evans caught two passes on the first Bucs possession of their home game against the Panthers and the second of them went for a two-yard touchdown. The score put the Bucs up 7-0 six plays into the game.
Bucky Irving ran three times for 28 yards and tight end Payne Durham reeled in a 29-yarder from Baker Mayfield ahead of the touchdown.
Evans also had an 11-yard catch, so he’s now up to 829 yards on the season. Evans has hit 1,000 receiving yards in all 10 of his previous seasons.
The Buccaneers need a win to assure they’ll head into Week 18 with a chance of winning the NFC South. If they can keep the momentum of their first drive going, they’ll be in good shape on that front.
Every week we bring you all the inactives from the 1 p.m. ET games in one post, constantly updated with the latest information.
The Bills’ bid to clinch the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoffs will unfold without safety Damar Hamlin.
Hamlin is inactive for Sunday’s home game against the Jets because of a rib injury. Hamlin was listed as questionable on the team’s final injury report and will miss his third straight game.
Buffalo will also be without wide receiver Curtis Samuel, who was questionable due to a rib injury. The Bills will have cornerback Rasul Douglas and linebacker Matt Milano back in the lineup for the divisional matchup.
Jets at Bills
Jets: K Anders Carlson, CB Jarrick Bernard-Converse, DE Braiden McGregor, S Jaylin Simpson, CB Kendall Sheffield, CB Qwan’tez Stiggers
Bills: WR Curtis Samuel, OL Tylan Grable, DT Austin Johnson, S Lewis Cine, LB Nicholas Morrow, CB Kaiir Elam, S Damar Hamlin
Titans at Jaguars
Titans: K Nick Folk, S Amani Hooker, WR Jha’Quan Jackson, T Nicholas Petit-Frere, RB Tony Pollard, LB Otis Reese, G Dillon Radunz
Jaguars: S Darnell Savage, LB Ventrell Miller, OL Walker Little, DT Esezi Otomewo, DT Tyler Lacy
Panthers at Buccaneers
Panthers: CB Jaycee Horn, T Taylor Moton, LB Josey Jewell, S Jordan Fuller, WR Deven Thompkins, QB Jack Plummer
Buccaneers: TE Cade Otton, WR Sterling Shepard, S Antoine Winfield Jr., LB Shaq Barrett, G Royce Newman, LB Jose Ramriez, QB Micheal Pratt
Raiders at Saints
Raiders: QB Carter Bradley, LB Kana’i Mauga, LG Jordan Meredith, DT Matthew Butler, DB Chris Smith, CB Darnay Holmes
Saints: QB Derek Carr, RB Jordan Mims, RB Alvin Kamara, LB Anfernee Orji, WR Mason Tipton, DT John Ridgeway, DT Khristian Boyd
Cowboys at Eagles
Cowboys: RB Deuce Vaughn, CB Kemon Hall, G T.J. Bass, T Matt Waletzko, TE Princeton Fant, DE Tyrus Wheat, DT Justin Rogers
Eagles: QB Jalen Hurts, RB Will Shipley, LB Nakobe Dean, QB Ian Book, OL Nick Gates, OL Darian Kinnard, OL Trevor Keegan
Colts at Giants
Colts: QB Anthony Richardson, DE Isaiah Land, G Dalton Tucker, TE Will Mallory, DT Adetomiwa Adebawore
Giants: CB Greg Stroman, CB Dee Williams, LB Micah McFadden, C John Michael Schmitz, DL Cory Durden, QB Tim Boyle
The Buccaneers announced the signing of linebacker Shaquil Barrett.
Initial reports Friday night indicated Barrett was signing with the team’s practice squad, but he signed to the 53-player roster. He has not played this season after deciding to retire over the summer, but the Dolphins waived him from the reserve/retired list this week.
The Bucs also announced they signed punter Jack Browning to the active roster.
Wide receiver Kameron Johnson and safety Jordan Whitehead were activated back to the active roster from injured reserve. Whitehead landed on injured reserve Nov. 29 after injuring a pectoral muscle in Week 12 against the Giants. Johnson played four early season games before going on injured reserve Oct. 21 with an ankle injury he aggravated in Week 5 against the Falcons.
The Buccaneers waived linebacker Vi Jones.
Additionally, the Bucs elevated linebacker Deion Jones and quarterback Michael Pratt from the practice squad for Sunday’s game. It marks the first elevation of the season for Jones and the third for Pratt.
The NFL’s much-discussed new rule against hip-drop tackles has only produced one penalty flag this season, against Carolina’s Jacoby Windmon on Sunday — and the league’s disciplinary office didn’t agree with that call.
The NFL confirmed today that Windmon was not fined for a hip-drop tackle, even though the officials flagged him for one when he tackled Arizona’s James Conner.
The penalty seemed questionable at the time, and former NFL head of officiating Dean Blandino said on the Fox broadcast that he thought it was a bad call. It appears that the league office agrees.
Meanwhile, two other players — both on the 49ers — were fined by the NFL for hip-drop tackles in Week 16. San Francisco’s Jordan Elliott was fined $11,774 for a hip-drop tackle, and teammate Fred Warner was fined $16,883.
When the NFL passed the rule against hip-drop tackles, many players complained that the rule was too ill-defined and would be enforced inconsistently. Those players are being proven right, as the NFL routinely fines players for hip-drop tackles that weren’t called on the field, and now the first player to get called on the field has escaped league discipline.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced the modern-era finalists for induction in the class of 2025 and it includes five players who can be elected in their first year of eligibility.
Former Giants quarterback Eli Manning is at the head of that group. The two-time Super Bowl winner would join his brother and Manningcast co-host Peyton as a member of the Hall of Fame if he is elected by the selection committee.
Manning is joined in that group by former Ravens, Cardinals and Chiefs edge rusher Terrell Suggs, former Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly, former Ravens guard Marshal Yanda, and former Patriots and Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri.
Former Panthers and Ravens wideout Steve Smith is a first-time finalist in his fourth year of eligibility. Cornerback Eric Allen, tight end Antonio Gates, guard Jahri Evans, defensive end Jared Allen, wide receiver Reggie Wayne, running back Fred Taylor, wide receiver Torry Holt, tackle Willie Anderson, safety Darren Woodson, and cornerback Eric Allen are all returning finalists.
The selection committee may elect up to five players from this group and they must receive 80 percent of the vote. They will also vote on seniors category finalists Maxie Baughan, Sterling Sharpe and Jim Tyrer; coach finalist Mike Holmgren, and contributor finalist Ralph Hay in a separate vote. Up to three of those men may be selected and the Hall of Fame bylaws mandate a class be made up of between four and eight selections.
