The Carolina Panthers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will play one game for what could decide the division at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa Bay on Sunday. Both teams over the last month have squandered opportunities to win the NFC South, possibly, and now it comes down to one game, but it is only a must-win for the Buccaneers.
NFL schedule makers announced on Sunday the times of the Week 18 slate of games, and on Saturday afternoon, the NFC South will get the sole spotlight for the NFL at that time, with the game set for 4:30 on ESPN/ABC. The worst division in the NFC will get a showcase game for the team that will host a home playoff game. However, the Buccaneers do not control their own fate.
By virtue of the Atlanta Falcons’ upset defeat of the Los Angeles Rams on Monday Night Football, a scenario exists in which the Falcons could beat the New Orleans Saints on Sunday and finish 8-9. If that occurs, then the Buccaneers could beat the Panthers and still not win the division due to tiebreakers. The Panthers, though, don’t want to leave their playoff hopes to chance.
Focus Won’t Be An Issue
The Panthers have been 3-4 since Week 10. Every time it seems the team takes one step forward, one week, the next the team takes a step back. Now that the Panthers control their own destiny, focus is paramount.
Darin Gantt and Kassidy Hill of Panthers.com, in their December 29 article, wrote that Panthers head coach Dave Canales said the team will be focused on beating the Buccaneers and will push all other scenarios to the side for now.
“Absolutely, that’s got to be the mentality, and that’s a weekly thing,” Canales said. “It’s a weekly discipline that we have to get back to work. We have to focus on the task at hand. It’s a true championship moment. ‘Shirts and hats’ games, it’s what you work so hard for all year. It’s right in front of us. It’s going to be fantastic. We’re excited about it, and that’s enough. That’s enough for the guys to understand this is your shot. This is the last shot we have, and I think the important part for me is when you truly get to this moment where this is the last game unless you win, that’s got to be the focus on a weekly basis. This is the only one we have. This is it. It requires everything of us.”
Canales wants the players to realize that this game should be treated as if there were no tomorrow, because there just might not be. After the loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the players quickly turned their attention to the Buccaneers.
Players Realize the Stakes
The Panthers have not won the NFC South since 2015 and have not made the playoffs since 2017. It’s been a long road for this franchise to get back to this position, and the players want to make the most of it.
Darin Gantt of Panthers.com wrote about some of the locker-room messaging players had about moving on to this week and the magnitude of the game.
“You got to go get it. You talk about it all year, where you want to go, and you want to have these opportunities. You got no choice but to go get it. So it is what it is,” said star defensive lineman Derrick Brown.
Panthers offensive lineman Austin Corbett echoed the win-or-go-home mentality the team is bringing to the game.
“We’ve done it before. We got no option but to do it now, so I think you got to continue at it, and I think guys are well built for it. We’ve done it before and again, there ain’t no option but to do it,” Corbett said.
While the game on Saturday might not end the Panthers’ season immediately with a loss, they want to take all ambiguity out of the situation and win the NFC South on their own terms.
Panthers-Buccaneers Battle May Not Be For the Division After All