Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17-14 Carolina Panthers
Tuesday 11 October 2016 09:01, UK
Robert Aguayo scored a 38-yard field goal with three seconds remaining to hand the Tampa Bay Buccaneers a 17-14 win over the Carolina Panthers.
Two touchdowns from Cameron Artis-Payne gave the Panthers a third quarter lead, but a Mike Evans touchdown levelled, and Aguayo overcame two missed kicks to win the game.
In 140 Characters...
Robert Aguayo overcomes two missed field goals to score game-winning points. Anderson fumbles and is picked twice in game full of mistakes.
MVP
This will be remembered more for the villains than the heroes, but Bradley McDougald had a great game on the Buccaneers defence. The safety had eight tackles, six of them solo, and broke up an important third down pass intended for Greg Olsen, which forced the punt.
Game-changer
In a game full of mistakes, Derek Anderson led his team downfield with six straight first downs, before throwing a thoughtless end-zone interception to hand the ball back to Brent Grimes and the Buccaneers.
Stat of the Night
6 - Only six teams have made the play-offs after starting the season 1-4. Two of those came last year (Kansas City Chiefs and the Houston Texans), but it's a long way back for last year's Super Bowl runners up.
The game
The Buccaneers' first drive took almost nine minutes as Winston moved the chains 58 yards, before the attack stalled at the Carolina 17-yard line. Rookie kicker Aguayo made no mistake with the 35-yard field goal to give Tampa a 3-0 lead.
The Bucs offence was on the field for over 13 minutes in the first quarter, and they dominated the start of the second too as Derek Anderson struggled to move the chains for Carolina. Russell Shepard recovered a muffed punt for Tampa, but Winston couldn't find the end zone, and Agauyo missed the 33 yard field goal attempt.
The kicker got another opportunity at the end of the second quarter, and this time doubled the Buccaneers' lead from 35 yards. The Panthers had a chance to reply but, with three seconds left, Graham Gano hooked the kick and Carolina left the field scoreless.
However, the home side got on the board and took the lead with the first drive of the second half. After 34 and 21-yard gains by tight end Greg Olsen, Cameron Artis-Payne leapt over the offensive line and into the end zone, before Gano added the extra point.
Artis-Payne then extended the Panthers' lead, taking advantage of a costly 'roughing the punter' penalty. Anderson again found Olsen for a 33-yard gain before Artis-Payne ran 12 yards to give Carolina a 14-6 lead.
It took just four drives for Tampa to level as Winston found tight end Cameron Brate on a 38 yard cross-field throw, before looking downfield 26 yards to Mike Evans in the end zone. The Bucs decided to go for two, and Winston connected with Adam Humphries.
After leading the Panthers down the field with six straight first downs, back up quarterback Anderson threw his second interception of the night, trying to find Olsen in the end zone. Winston replied by getting his team to within field goal range but, from 46 yards Aguayo hooked the ball wide to the left for his fourth missed punt in as many games.
However the kicker got another chance to be the hero and, with three seconds left, he made the 38 yard field goal to hand Tampa Bay a 17-14 divisional road win. The Bucs now move to 2-3 going into their bye week, but for Carolina it will be a case of addressing the errors that led to them to losing this game, most notably Anderson's decision making in the red zone.
