Tampa Bay 41, Carolina 17
When: 4:25 PM ET, Sunday, January 9, 2022
Where: Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida
Temperature:
82°
Head Official:
Tony Corrente
Attendance:
65473
By Field Level Media
Tom Brady threw three touchdowns and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers finished strong in the regular season by defeating the visiting Carolina Panthers 41-17 on Sunday.
The reigning Super Bowl champions hold a 13-4 record entering the playoffs, where they will be the No. 2 seed in the NFC. They'll face the seventh-seeded Philadelphia Eagles next weekend.
Tampa Bay scored 24 fourth-quarter points to put away the Panthers.
Brady threw for 326 yards on 29-for-37 passing, with two of the TD passes going to Mike Evans.
Rob Gronkowski made seven catches for 137 yards and Evans finished with 89 yards on six receptions.
The Panthers (5-12) lost seven consecutive games to end their second season under coach Matt Rhule. Two of the last three defeats came to the Buccaneers, who won 32-6 in Charlotte, N.C. It's the worst record in NFL history for a team that began the season with a 3-0 record.
Carolina quarterback Sam Darnold threw two touchdowns and an interception. He was 29-for-42 for 219 yards to finish his first season with the team.
Tampa Bay led only 17-10 entering the fourth quarter. On the first play of the quarter, Brady connected with Evans for a 3-yard touchdown.
The Panthers responded when Darnold threw 19 yards to Robby Anderson for a score.
Three minutes later, Brady hooked up with Evans for a 20-yard touchdown. Ryan Succop's second field goal of the day and Scotty Miller's 33-yard touchdown run added to Tampa Bay's late-game scoring.
The Panthers scored first on Chuba Hubbard's 2-yard reception from Darnold in the first quarter.
The Buccaneers didn't lead until Le'Veon Bell took a 1-yard toss from Brady with 15 seconds left in the first half for what became a 10-7 edge. That concluded a 92-yard, eight-play drive.
Tampa Bay padded the lead on the opening possession of the second half by marching 77 yards in seven plays with Ke'Shawn Vaughn running in from 2 yards out.
--Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
Receiving
| Carolina |
|
Tampa Bay |
|
DJ Moore
|
Player |
Rob Gronkowski
|
|
7 |
Receptions |
7 |
|
87 |
Yards |
137 |
|
12.4 |
Avg Yards |
19.6 |
|
0 |
Touchdowns |
0 |
|
20 |
Long |
42 |
Team Stats Summary
| |
Yards |
Scoring |
Defense |
| Team |
Tot |
Rus |
Pas |
TD |
FG |
INT |
Sck |
FF |
| Carolina
|
317 |
110 |
207 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1.0 |
0 |
| Tampa Bay
|
409 |
85 |
324 |
5 |
2 |
1 |
2.0 |
1 |
Upcoming Games
-
Tampa Bay will play their next game at home against Philadelphia. The Buccaneers have a W/L % of .769 after a win and .750 after a loss.
For more information, contact us