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Nfc South Standings How Panthers Week 16 Win Over Buccaneers Impacts

Bonisiwe Shabane
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nfc south standings how panthers week 16 win over buccaneers impacts

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers entered their Week 16 clash tied atop the NFC South standings. The Buccaneers were favored to win the road game even amid a stretch during which they had dropped five of six games. Instead, the Panthers found a way to earn a 23-20 win in a game during which they limited Baker Mayfield to just 145 passing yards. Carolina's defense performed well throughout the back-and-forth battle. It made the biggest play of Sunday's game, as Lathan Ransom intercepted Mayfield just before the Buccaneers could get into field-goal range to potentially set up a game-tying kick in the final minutes of... The victory will put the Panthers atop the NFC South, but Carolina will still have some work to do to wrap up the division title.

And it's certainly still possible for the Buccaneers to remain in the division race and make the Week 18 battle between these two squads a potential winner-take-all game. Here's what to know about the NFC South standings after the result of the Panthers vs. Buccaneers Week 16 game. The NFC South title will come down to the final two weeks of the 2025 regular season. After Week 16, however, there's a new leader, with the Panthers (8-7) beating the Buccaneers (8-7) 23-20 at home on Sunday to take the division lead by a game. Baker Mayfield threw an interception late in the fourth quarter to seal the victory for Bryce Young and the Panthers.

The teams will play again to close the season in Week 18 in Tampa Bay. Here's how the NFC South standings look after Week 16 and the path for the Panthers and Buccaneers to win the division and make the playoffs: The Panthers created a game of separation between them and the Buccaneers. They have the head-to-head tiebreaker from the victory. They also hold the division-record tiebreaker (3-2 vs. 2-3).

The Panthers are up one game and the head-to-head tiebreaker. What Buccaneers loss means for NFC South playoff picture, Panthers' odds and standings originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers seemed like they had this one. But then the Atlanta Falcons and Kirk Cousins staged an incredible rally to beat the Bucs on Thursday Night Football in Week 15. It changes everything in the NFC South standings for both the Buccaneers and the Carolina Panthers.

Just a handful of days after a bad loss to the New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay did it again. The Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers entered the night tied atop the NFC South at 7-6. The wild card spots won't be coming out of this division, so it's division title or bust. The Buccaneers face the Panthers in Charlotte on Sunday. We break down what the game means for the NFL playoff picture in Week 16. Update: Carolina defeated Tampa Bay 23-20 in Week 16 to take the lead atop the NFC South standings.

The Panthers can officially clinch the division title next week with a victory over the Seahawks and a Buccaneers loss to the Dolphins. Otherwise, the division will be decided in a winner-take-all rematch between these two teams in Week 18. The NFC South has been a bit of a mess this season, and while we probably will not see a sub-.500 team win the division, the winner won’t be getting a lot of support... The division title will come down to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers, and they kick off a final three-week run that will decide it. The Bucs and Panthers have yet to face each other this season, saving their two matchups for the final three weeks of the season. The Panthers host the first one in Week 16 and the Bucs host the season finale in Week 18.

Tampa Bay has lost two straight and five of its last six games to blow what had been a strong start to the season. The Bucs went into their bye with a 6-2 record and have since collapsed even as they start to get healthier. Over the past two weeks, they’ve lost back-to-back divisional home games in which they were favored. They lost 24-20 to the Saints and then 29-28 to the Falcons. This was a fundamentally important matchup for the Bucs. Here’s what happened.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers now stand at 7-8 after a 23-20 loss vs. the Panthers, a matchup that was crucially important to the Buccaneers’ playoff hopes and the NFC Standings. The loss drops the Buccaneers to No. 2 in the NFC South and will further shrink Tampa Bay’s postseason chances. Tampa Bay won the toss and deferred, and they were able to hold the Panthers to a field on the first drive of the game. The Bucs answered by chipping away at yards and eating clock on a 10-play, 6:39 drive and ended with a 1-yard touchdown from Baker Mayfield to Mike Evans.

The Panthers’ next possession barely went anywhere. After converting one first down thanks to a Chuba Hubbard 10-yard run, Carolina’s next three downs ended in a SirVocea Dennis sack of Bryce Young for a loss of 8 yards, an incomplete pass... After a false start by Carolina backing them up 5 yards, they pinned the Bucs at Tampa Bay’s own 10-yard line. The next Bucs possession looked like it was going to culminate in a field goal on fourth and 4 on the Panthers’ 30 with 12:30 left to play in the half. The attempt was good, but a penalty on the Panthers gave Tampa Bay a fresh set of downs. Unfortunately, the Bucs couldn’t capitalize with a touchdown, but did extend their lead to 10-3 with 8:09 left in the second quarter.

What an insane sequence to end the Lions-Steelers game. Amon-Ra St. Brown scored what looked like the game-winning touchdown, but it was negated by a pass interference penalty on Isaac TeSlaa. A few plays later, on fourth down, St. Brown caught a pass at the goal line but wasn't able to get into the end zone... but he flipped the ball backwards to Jared Goff, who ran it a few yards into the end zone.

HOWEVER... the play was negated by a pass interference penalty on St. Brown, and with no time left on the clock, the game is over. Steelers win and improve to 9-6, keeping their hold on the AFC North, while the Lions drop to 8-7 and have their playoff hopes on life support. Trevor Lawrence was masterful against one of the best defenses in the NFL: He went completed 23 of 36 passes for 279 yards and three touchdowns, while also rushing for another score. The Jaguars remain in control of the AFC South despite Houston's win over the Raiders this afternoon.

The Broncos' lead in the AFC West is down to one game, while their lead over the Patriots in the race for the top seed in the AFC is now a half-game. (And it's one game over the Jags.) CHARLOTTE — There's a new top team in the NFC South, after the Panthers took a one-game lead over the Bucs Sunday with a crucial win down the stretch. The two teams will face off again in Week 18, a matchup shaping up as a division winner. Additionally, both the Saints and the Falcons won, setting up some interesting tiebreakers down the stretch for the Panthers' playoff chances. It's a convoluted situation we won't attempt to explain here; read all about it in this story.

Catch up with the complete division wrap-up. In what is essentially a two-game series with Carolina for a playoff spot, Tampa Bay dropped the first game on Sunday, a 23-20 loss in Charlotte. It means the Bucs have lost six of their last seven games, the one win coming in Week 13 and bracketed by three straight losses. "We know (where) we're at right now," said quarterback Baker Mayfield. "We've got to win out to win the division and get in the playoffs. It's as clear as it can be.

Wish we would have taken care of business today, but the situation doesn't change. Dec 16, 2025; Northport, AL, USA; The Tuscaloosa Public Library is need of a new bookmobile. Librarian Marisa Posley works with preschool children who are visiting the bookmobile during a stop at Northwood Hills Baptist Church. Dec 16, 2025; Northport, AL, USA; The Tuscaloosa Public Library is need of a new bookmobile. The bookmobile makes a stop at Northwood Hills Baptist Church. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers entered their Week 16 clash tied atop the NFC South standings.

The Buccaneers were favored to win ⁠the road game even amid a stretch during which they had dropped five of six games. Instead, the Panthers found a way to earn a 23-20 win in a game during which they limited Baker Mayfield to just 145 passing yards. Carolina's defense performed well throughout the back-and-forth battle. It made the biggest play of Sunday's game, as Lathan Ransom intercepted ‍Mayfield just before the Buccaneers could get into field-goal range to potentially set up a game-tying kick in the final minutes of... The NFC South has been a tough division to watch throughout the 2025 NFL season. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers took a commanding lead early in the season, but after their recent struggles, the division is wide open.

Now, after Week 15, which team has a better shot of making the playoffs: the Bucs or Panthers? One week after taking down the Buccaneers, the New Orleans Saints pulled off another divisional upset by defeating the Panthers at the buzzer in Week 15. That means the Panthers and Bucs both lost in Week 15, as Tampa Bay was defeated on Thursday night by the Atlanta Falcons. Let’s break down the current NFC South standings: 1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 7-7 2.

Carolina Panthers, 7-7 3. Atlanta Falcons, 5-9 (eliminated) 4. New Orleans Saints, 4-10 (eliminated) If the Panthers had defeated the Saints on Sunday, the Bucs’ odds of making the playoffs would’ve dropped to 27.4%. However, with the Saints pulling off another upset, Tampa Bay’s odds now sit at 66.4% to win the division and make the playoffs, according to PFSN’s Playoff Predictor.

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