The Buccaneers (8-7) look to finish their season strong on New Year’s Day with a victory against the division rival Panthers (6-9). Here, we break down five players that can change the outcome of Sunday’s game. More
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Sunday night’s “flexed” Dallas Cowboys-Tampa Bay Buccaneers game resulted in a 33% ratings spike from last season’s Week 15 contest on NBC, although CBS scored the highest NFL ratings on the day.
The 26-20 Cowboys victory scored a 15.3 overnight rating and a 25 share, the network announced on Monday. The Week 15 game in 2015, the Philadelphia Eagles-Arizona Cardinals game, resulted in a 10.5 rating, the second -worst rating for a Sunday Night Football game last season, according to Sports Media Watch.
The NFL earlier this month…
NEW YORK (AP) The NFL has moved the Tampa Bay-Dallas game on Dec. 18 to prime time.
As part of its flex scheduling for Sundays, the league switched the Buccaneers’ visit to the Cowboys, who already have clinched a playoff berth. Tampa Bay is 7-5 and tied for the NFC North…
SEATTLE (AP) – By this point, they might as well consider Seattle and Carolina a divisional game.
For the seventh time in five years, the Panthers and Seahawks will meet on Sunday night each with a different sense of urgency heading into the final month of the regular season.
Seattle (7-3-1) reverted to its inconsistent form of earlier this season in a loss last week to Tampa Bay that now leaves the Seahawks, while still in complete control of the NFC West, with no room for error in trying to hold off others in the NFC for the No. 2 seed and a coveted first-round bye in the playoffs.
The level of urgency is far greater for the defending NFC champion Panthers.
After last week’s loss in Oakland , the Panthers (4-7) are three games behind in the NFC South race and 2½ games behind Washington for the final wild-card spot with five games to go.
There is time for Carolina, but it’s running short to avoid joining the list of Super Bowl participants to miss the postseason the following year.
“We’ve lost five games by three points or less. We had opportunities to win football games down the stretch and didn’t do it,” Carolina coach Ron Rivera said.
“Those are things that unfortunately we just didn’t do. We did it last year and that’s probably the hard pill to swallow.”
There’s also the Super Bowl hangover, something that Rivera acknowledged researching what Seattle coach Pete Carroll did following the back-to-back trips by the Seahawks to the championship game to try and figure out ways to avoid a swoon by his team.
“I think it’s got a little bit to do with it. The truth of the matter is if you win the first game, things can be different. Unfortunately we didn’t, so we have to battle uphill,” Rivera said.
Unlike the Panthers, thus far at least, Seattle was able to overcome early troubles following both of its Super Bowl trips to find a way back to the postseason.
“I think you have to be prepared for it way before you ever get to it,” Carroll said.
“If it’s the…
The last time that Cam Newton rallied a team from as many as 17 points down to victory was the 2010 Iron Bowl, when Auburn trailed 24-0 in the second quarter and 24-7 at halftime before capturing a 28-27 victory over Alabama.
Six years and one day later, he almost did it again.
Now the quarterback of the Carolina Panthers, Auburn’s 2010 Heisman Trophy winner led a comeback that wiped out a 24-7 deficit to the Oakland Raiders and turned it into a 32-24 lead. But that’s where the rally ran out, and Oakland battled back for a 35-32 victory on Sunday.
Newton completed 3-of-12 passes for 18 yards with one interception – which Oakland’s Khalil Mack returned for a touchdown – in the first half. Newton did run 3 yards for Carolina’s only first-half touchdown with 3:10 left in the first quarter.
In the second half, Newton completed 11-of-17 passes for 228 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
Carolina scored touchdowns on its first four possessions of the second half to storm into the lead, with Newton contributing touchdown passes of 88 yards with 7:43 left in the third quarter and 44 yards with 13:26 left in the game.
Right. On. The. MONEY. Newton [?] Ginn Jr. for the 88 yd TD! #CARvsOAK #KeepPounding pic.twitter.com/sGLSMGtC5A
— FanDuel (@FanDuel) November 27, 2016
JUMP BALL… POSSESSION ARROW? #Panthers. Epic grab by Kelvin Benjamin! 32-24 Carolina. #CARvsOAK #KeepPounding pic.twitter.com/7hLK3d1BIN
— FanDuel (@FanDuel) November 28, 2016
After Oakland responded with a touchdown drive to tie the game, Newton completed his next six passes for 66 yards. But the Raiders still got a go-ahead field goal while keeping Carolina from scoring. The Panthers’ final possession ended with three straight incompletions and a fumble by Newton when he was sacked on fourth down at the Oakland 44-yard line with 53 seconds to play.
Oakland blocked the extra-point attempt after Carolina’s second touchdown, and the Panthers couldn’t connect on 2-point conversion passes on their next two TDs.
“We have to come together and win these close games,” Newton said at his postgame press conference, “and that’s what it comes down to. The first half wasn’t great. We battled back, took the lead, but we just have to do better as a whole, starting with myself. That’s just unacceptable for the first half. I don’t know what it was. I just couldn’t get into a rhythm and making a lackluster turnover at the end of the first…
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were not expected to beat the Seattle Seahawks Sunday. Not only did the Bucs win, they turned in a dominant defensive effort.
Tampa defenders sacked Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson six times and intercepted him twice in a 14-5 victory to keep playoff hopes alive. Offensively, the Buccaneers were led by receiver Mike Evans, who had his way with the Legion of Boom. He finished with eight catches for 104 yards and both of the game’s touchdowns.
Tampa Bay (6-5) remained just a game back of the Atlanta Falcons (7-4) in the NFC South. The Buccaneers are also just half a game back of Washington (6-4-1) for the final wild-card spot in the NFC. The Falcons dealt a blow to Arizona’s playoff chances with a 38-19 win over the Cardinals at the Georgia Dome.
The Seahawks (7-3-1) still have a comfortable lead in the NFC West with every other team in the division also losing. The Cardinals (4-6-1) lost in Atlanta while the Los Angeles Rams (4-7) were clobbered by the New Orleans Saints and the San Francisco 49ers lost their 10th straight with a 31-24 defeat in Miami.
The defending NFC champions appear done after Carolina fell to 4-7 with Sunday’s 35-32 loss in Oakland.
The Saints (5-6) also stayed alive in the NFC playoff hunt with their dominant 49-21 victory at the Superdome. They sit 10th in the NFC, but can gain ground with two games remaining against the Buccaneers and the season finale at Atlanta. Four of New Orleans’ final five games are indoors, where Saints quarterback Drew Brees has thrived.
The Dolphins and Bills helped themselves in the AFC. Miami held off a final charge by the 49ers to move to 7-4 and into a tie with the Denver Broncos for the sixth spot in the AFC. Sunday’s 30-27 win over the Broncos pushed the Kansas City Chiefs to within a game of the Raiders (9-2) in the AFC West and securely into the top wild-card slot.
Buffalo kept its postseason dreams alive thanks to a fourth-quarter touchdown pass from Tyrod Taylor to Justin Hunter to lift the Bills to a 28-21 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars (2-9). The San Diego Chargers (5-6) also stayed in the hunt thanks to their 21-13 win over the struggling Houston Texans (6-5), who still lead the AFC South.
Behind the Dolphins, the AFC is a jumbled mess as the Bills, Texans, Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans all have six wins. The Steelers (6-5) beat the Indianapolis Colts (5-6) on Thursday while the Titans (6-6) evened their record with a 27-21 win over the Chicago Bears (2-9) on Sunday. The Ravens stayed tied with the Steelers atop the AFC North with a 19-14 win over the Cincinnati Bengals (3-7-1).
There is still a lot to be decided over the next five weeks as only the Dallas Cowboys (10-1), New England Patriots (9-2), Raiders and Seahawks appear to be postseason locks.
The winless Cleveland Browns, who fell to 0-12 with Sunday’s 27-13 loss to the New York Giants, and the 49ers (1-10) are the only teams already eliminated from playoff contention.
Injury report
Jaguars receiver Allen Hurns fought for a 12-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter of Jacksonville’s 28-21 loss to the Buffalo Bills, but it was a costly score. Hurns grabbed his left hamstring after diving into the end zone and did not return to the game. The touchdown was his only catch…