The Bucs did not stop Allen, however, as he completed 20 of 32 passes for yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He was sacked just twice and not hurried anywhere near as often as Winston was. Defensively, we've got to find ways to stop him. We've got to get after him, pressure him more. The Bucs struggles were encapsulated by a bizarre Special teams sequence just before halftime when the Bucs' punting team committed three straight false starts to move the line of scrimmage from their 26 back to the When the resulting punt by Bradley Pinion was short and fair caught at the midfield stripe the result was one of the rarest plays in NFL football — a fair-catch free kick.
Panthers K Joey Slye was allowed to try a yard field goal from what is essentially a kickoff formation, but he missed just to the right. Special teams woes also hamstrung the Buccaneers' attempts to come back from a point deficit in the fourth quarter.
After Winston's yard touchdown pass to Cam Brate made it , the Buccaneers' defense generated two straight quick stops but punt returner Bobo Wilson muffed a fair of punts in a row, the second one recovered by the Panthers at Tampa Bay's yard line with 10 minutes to play. The Panthers turned that into three points and made it a three-score game again with eight minutes to play. Just catch the damn ball. It's not that hard. The game could hardly have started worse for the Buccaneers, who won the toss and elected to be on offense first, only to have their possession last all of one play.
Winston tried to zip a pass to Evans on a curl between defenders and Bradberry got to it first for an interception at the Bucs' However, that offered a golden opportunity for the Bucs' defense to stand strong, and it did.
One run and one catch by McCaffrey resulted in negative-three yards and the Panthers settled for Joey Slye's yard field goal just under two minutes into the game. An exchange of three punts didn't net the Buccaneers any points but it did pin the Panthers at their own one-yard line midway through the first quarter.
At that point, the Carolina offense had generated negative-three yards of offense. That changed in a big way on the ensuing drive, which covered the maximum possible distance of an NFL possession, going 99 yards on 12 plays for the game's first touchdown.
The last yard was the hardest one to get, as the Bucs' defense stopped Allen on a third-and-goal sneak before McCaffrey just got the ball across the line on a fourth-and-goal power run over right guard. Moore and Curtis Samuel for gains of 23 and 21 yards to get to first-and-goal. The Bucs got their first scoring opportunity early in the second quarter when Minter recovered the McCloud fumble caused by Smith, who had ran past McCloud but then recovered to hit him from behind.
A screen pass to TE O. Howard worked to perfection for 30 yards down to the Panthers' five. On first-and-goal, Jones took a handoff up the middle, slid out to the right and then put a double-move on S Eric Reid to get by him and into the end zone. The Panthers got their point lead back by midway through the second quarter thanks to the Bucs' second turnover. The resulting floater was intercepted by a diving Javien Elliott at the Bucs' yard line and four plays later McCaffrey took a screen pass to the left and weaved through the defense for a yard score.
The Buccaneers took the ensuing drive down to the Panthers' yard line but then lost it on a Winston fumble caused by Vernon Butler and recovered by Irvin. Butler actually stripped Winston of the football on two consecutive plays but the first fumble was recovered by the Buccaneers. Carolina extended its lead to 13 points on a yard field goal by Joey Slye midway through the second quarter, a kick set up by Allen's yard strike to Samuel.
Moments later, Winston was intercepted by Kuechly on yet another play on which he was hit as he threw. Kuechly returned the pick 25 yards to the Buccaneers' eight-yard line and Samuel scored on the next play on an end around.
The Bucs got their first points of the second half on a yard field goal by rookie kicker Matt Gay with five minutes left in the third quarter. Scotty Miller's first career reception — only secured by a successful review challenge by Arians — got the drive started with a yard gain. The Panthers topped that on the next possession, driving 75 yards on 10 plays, the last one a dazzling yard touchdown catch by Samuel on a fade-stop for a lead five seconds into the final period.
With time running out, Winston acted fast on the next possession, completing four of six passes for 60 yards on a matching yard touchdown drive, the last one a strike to Brate in the back middle of the end zone. This innovative field adds greater flexibility in the scheduling of games, with the NFL having its own playing surface for games held at the venue. Cookie banner We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from.
By choosing I Accept , you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies. Filed under:. If you want to further connect the dots of doom, the Bucs seem to be ready and willing to play these games in London at the expense of some pretty good home games for their fans. This Sunday, in Tampa, the weather will be perfect.
With temperatures finally in the low 70s, it's a nice reward for those thousands who have literally paid high ticket prices to sweat their butts off, pay huge parking tolls, high prices for lousy concession food and beer at champagne prices.
If they'll simply go ahead and telecast all the games from the London Bucs—well, maybe that won't be so bad. Enjoy our content? Join our newsletter to get the latest in sports news delivered straight to your inbox!
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