Buccaneers top Panthers, need help from Saints on Sunday

TAMPA, Fla. -- Weird.

That was the way many members of the Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers described having to pull for different division rivals on Sunday for their team to win the NFC South title and a trip to the playoffs.

Carolina's bid to win its first division title since 2015 -- and earn its first playoff berth since 2017 -- was put on hold Saturday night with a 16-14 loss to the Buccaneers at rain-soaked Raymond James Stadium.

Now, the Panthers need the favored Atlanta Falcons (7-9) to defeat the New Orleans Saints(6-10) in a 1 p.m. ET game Sunday to force a three-way tie with them and the Buccaneers at 8-9. That would give the division to Carolina via tiebreaker, its 3-1 record between the three teams the deciding factor.

The Buccaneers need the Saints, playing without star wide receiver Chris Olave (blood clots) and running back Alvin Kamara (knee/ankle), to get a win or tie to claim their fifth straight NFC South title despite winning only two of their final nine games.

It's such a weird scenario that Carolina quarterback Bryce Young can't imagine the feeling on Sunday.

"It'll be a tough one," he said. "Might not even watch, to be honest with you."

Carolina linebacker Christian Rozeboom understands, saying "Wish we could have taken it into our own control, but that's life sometimes. We've just got to be patient for tomorrow and hope for the best for us."

The situation is among the strangest since the final week of the 1977 season, when the Pittsburgh Steelers needed the then-Houston Oilers to defeat the Cincinnati Bengals for Pittsburgh to make the playoffs. The Oilers won 10-9.

As a show of gratitude, Pittsburgh players and coaches took up a collection and bought each Oilers player and coach a high-quality leather briefcase. The Steelers went on to lose their first playoff game.

"It is weird," Buccaneers tight end Cade Otton said of the situation Tampa Bay and Carolina face. "I hate to say it, but 'Who dat? Go Saints!' You spell it with an 'eaux' too. But yeah, we'll be waiting around and cheering for the Saints, which is weird."

Said Buccaneers left tackle Tristan Wirfs:"It is strange. I would have loved to have been able to just clinch today and be done with it. But it's out of our control now. I'm not going to sit here and say I'm going to root for the Saints. I'll tell you that.

"I'll root against the Falcons. We'll see how it goes."

Buccaneers linebackerLavonte Davidsaid he "never thought I'd see a day where I'm rooting for the Saints."

Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfieldhas openly shared his dislike of the Saints in the past and accused them of dirty play before they faced each other in October.

"I do not like them," he said at the time. He reminded with a smirk Saturday that "a tie still gets us in." The Saints, meanwhile, offered a playful response of their own on social media Saturday night.

Mayfield jokingly said he "might call the hotel for the Falcons [to disturb players' sleep]" but admitted he didn't know where they were staying.

He added there will likely be a group text as the Saints and Falcons play or "a little watch party." Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles said he planned to watch the game from home.

The Buccaneers built a 10-0 lead in the first quarter Saturday and led 16-7 with under three minutes to play when Young threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jalen Coker to make it a two-point game.

But as far as the Panthers were concerned, the game was somewhat taken out of their hands earlier with two controversial penalties. The first was a changed call from an incomplete pass to a lateral that resulted in a 7-yard loss on a first-and-10 play from the Tampa Bay 34 with the Buccaneers leading 13-7.

An official blew a whistle to stop the play with Carolina running backRico Dowdleholding on to the ball and room to run for a big gain.

The second was an offensive pass interference penalty that negated a 32-yard reception by Tetairoa McMillan to the Tampa Bay 36 with the Bucs still up by six.

The first call was so confusing to Young that he became as animated as he has been in his three NFL seasons talking to the official.

"They didn't tell us anything," Young said. "Just now we're in a different position."

Referee Brad Allen said the line judge made the initial ruling of incomplete and then the down judge saw the pass was "clearly backwards." He said replay was not used on the play and that, because there was an erroneous whistle, the Panthers could have had a choice to replay the down.

Carolina coach Dave Canales said he didn't talk to the officials about that play.

But those plays made the loss and having to depend on Atlanta on Sunday even tougher.

"Winning the South has been a goal of ours since day one," Young said. "You're not going to have any lack of motivation there, but obviously it's out of our hands now."

There was no definitive plan by the Panthers on whether they would watch the Falcons-Saints contest together or from home after they come to Bank of America Stadium to review the Tampa Bay game.

"I think we're all going to be on the edge of our seats watching that game," Canales said. "At least we have that hope to look at."br/]