Week 18 kicks off with a game that will likely determine the NFC South Champion when the 8-8 Carolina Panthers go head-to-head with the 7-9 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Both teams will be able to put their Week 17 losses behind them with this game. If the Panthers win, then they are NFC South champs. If Tampa wins and the Atlanta Falcons lose, then they’ll secure the divisional crown.
The Bucs have not been able to get out of their own way, with four straight losses, including a 20-17 stinker against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. Despite their recent unravelling, they can still earn their sixth straight playoff berth.
“I mean, it’s a different way of going about it with the last three years. And this is definitely a different way of going about it, especially the way we’ve been playing and finishing and not making those plays,” Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles said during the postgame press conference. “Again, opportunity’s there. There’s a door of opportunity and a window of opportunity, and it’s up to us – as coaches and players – as a team to take advantage of it.”
The Buccaneers’ offence has been prone to mistakes during this losing streak, averaging 21.25 points per game. Quarterback Baker Mayfield has also struggled with six touchdowns compared to five interceptions.
“So, offensively, it comes back to execution,” he said after the loss to the Dolphins. “We obviously gave ourselves a fighting chance right there but didn’t do enough, and those turnovers obviously crushed us. So, [we’ve] got to come back. And here’s the thing: we still have a chance next week. We’ve been blessed with a chance next week, and guys need to handle it the right way.”
Though Tampa Bay has dropped seven of its last eight games, Todd Bowles said that he doesn’t feel like the team is falling apart.
“Things are not splintering from within,” he explained. “When you lose, players get frustrated, but they still work together, and they’re very close.”
The hope is that Bowles’ team will learn from their loss in Week 17 and use that experience to win the NFC South on Saturday.
“It’s working on us. Obviously, working on us, understanding the things that we did wrong so we can get right,” he said. “We don’t play 60 minutes of bad football. We play spurts, and we have a couple of plays, and we’ve got to put it together. You know, it’s the last game. One way or the other, we’ve got to find a way to win.”
The Panthers also suffered a disappointing loss, albeit to a much better team. The Seattle Seahawks defeated the Carolina Panthers, 27-10, last weekend.
“First and foremost, got to give a lot of credit to the Seahawks coming out here, playing tough all day, and coming up with some big conversions throughout the day,” said head coach Dave Canales during the postgame press conference. “From there, I’ve just got to talk about our defence and the amazing game they played to give us opportunities offensively. We didn’t do anything with those. A part of that was just the Seahawks having a great scheme, playing together, and making things difficult on us, but we made mistakes. We made mistakes on the offensive side. And when you play a good team like this, you have to be able to take advantage.”
That loss didn’t seem to put a damper on Canales’ spirits. He was in a great mood on Tuesday because this is the biggest game of his head coaching career.
“What an exciting day, exciting week for us,” he said enthusiastically on December 30th. “Right in front of us is a championship moment to be able to attack this, and the guys are excited about it. Had a great day of work, going back into our film session right now to make sure we’re just crossing the tees, dotting the eyes, and getting ready for this weekend.”
Interestingly enough, the Panthers don’t need to win this game to clinch a playoff berth. If the Buccaneers and the Atlanta Falcons both win this weekend, then Carolina clinches the division via tiebreaker. Should that happen, the Falcons, Bucs, and Panthers will all have 8-9 records to finish the regular season. Since Carolina is 3-1 against those other two teams in head-to-head competition, the Panthers would still clinch the division.
“We’re aware of all those scenarios, and it’s a pretty simple path,” Dave Canales told reporters. “We’ve got to handle business and win the game. That’s got to be our focus, first and foremost. [They’re] a team that I really respect and that we just played a couple weeks ago. We have to approach this thing like we didn’t just play them. Don’t take anything for granted. Make sure we’re on the details, and all the other scenarios will play out how they will.”
Prediction for Carolina Panthers @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-2.5)
The vibes are really bad right now in Tampa after Todd Bowles told reporters, “We’ve got to be better at the quarterback position.” He made those comments on Tuesday, and for the life of me, I can’t understand why! Maybe it’s because he knows quarterback Baker Mayfield is the type of player who is at his best when he has somebody doubting him and pushing back against him. Then again, the Bucs are a mess right now with seven losses in their last eight games. At the same time, Carolina has been alternating between wins and losses over its last ten consecutive games. The Panthers lost last week. Therefore, they’ll win this weekend because that’s how they’ve been playing since Week Seven. I’m not going to use any statistics to support my case. I just feel like Carolina will win this game.
Prediction: Panthers 26 – 23 Buccaneers
