DOWN X DOWN › week 18 › Panthers at Buccaneers
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2025
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Week 18 · Saturday 4:30 PM ET · Raymond James Stadium

CARvsTB

Panthers offensevsBuccaneers defense

Season numbers through Week 22: 18 games for Panthers, 17 for Buccaneers. Ranks are out of 32; #1 is the best offense or the stingiest defense.

How it played out · win probability, snap by snapFinal · CAR 14 · TB 16

The Buccaneers won 16–14 and were favored the whole way, never below 59%. The biggest single swing came at Q4 11:15, 13 points for the Buccaneers.

At kickoffTB 60%TB by 3 on the line
TB low point59%Q2 2:20 · up 10⁠–⁠7
Swings past 50%0times the favorite changed
Biggest swing13 ptsTB · Q4 11:15
TB wins50%CAR wins
Q1Q2Q3Q4

The plays that swung it

  1. 1Q4 11:15TBR.Dowdle FUMBLES (Aborted) at TB 24, RECOVERED by TB-L.David at TB 29.78% → 90%+13
  2. 2Q4 3:10CARB.Young pass deep middle to T.McMillan to TB 8 for 40 yards (J.Parrish).4% → 16%+12
  3. 3Q4 0:03TBB.Young pass short middle to J.Coker to CAR 34 for 13 yards. Lateral to T.McMillan to CAR 36 for 2 yards. FUMBLES, touched at CAR 35, RECOVERED by…90% → 100%+11
  4. 4Q2 0:31TBB.Mayfield pass short left to C.Otton pushed ob at CAR 31 for 22 yards (N.Scott) [A.Robinson].67% → 75%+9
  5. 5Q4 2:12TBB.Mayfield pass short right to C.Otton to CAR 45 for 20 yards (T.Moehrig).84% → 92%+8

Win probability is nflverse's model, which starts from the betting line and updates before every snap with the score, the clock, down, distance, field position and timeouts. A swing is the change in one team's chance across a play, in percentage points. The turning point is the play after which the winner never fell to 50% again.

Box score · every offensive player who touched the ballWeek 18

B.Young led the Panthers at +4.9 EPA (24 of 35 for 266). B.Mayfield led the Buccaneers at +9.3 EPA (16 of 22 for 203).

CAR Panthers

PassingC/AYdsTDINTSkEPA
B.Young100%24/3526621+6.4
RushingCarShareYdsTDEPA
R.Dowdle53%750%10-7.1
C.Hubbard45%536%10+1.2
B.Young100%214%-1-1.5
ReceivingTgtShareRecYdsTDEPA
J.Coker92%723%64710.0
T.McMillan88%620%485+4.5
T.Tremble90%413%3381+4.0
X.Legette31%413%322+0.3
R.Dowdle53%27%220+0.9
C.Hubbard45%27%27-0.9
B.Tremayne14%27%227+0.6
M.Evans45%27%15-0.9
J.Jr.31%13%115+0.7

Defense C.Rozeboom 1 INT, T.Moehrig 1 sack, K.Barnes 0.5 sacks, N.Scourton 0.5 sacks · Kicking R.Fitzgerald 0/1 FG

TB Buccaneers

PassingC/AYdsTDINTSkEPA
B.Mayfield100%16/22203112+6.8
RushingCarShareYdsTDEPA
B.Irving63%2662%85-3.4
R.White33%717%23-2.2
B.Mayfield100%410%31+2.6
S.Tucker7%410%-4-3.2
T.Johnson13%12%5-0.1
ReceivingTgtShareRecYdsTDEPA
C.Otton96%941%7941+4.1
E.Egbuka58%314%18-4.8
M.Evans75%29%234+3.2
R.White33%29%218+2.1
B.Irving63%29%113+0.6
C.Jr.70%15%18+0.9
P.Durham27%15%00-0.5
J.McMillan55%15%111+1.8
T.Johnson13%15%117+1.4

Defense J.Parrish 1 INT · Kicking C.McLaughlin 3/4 FG (long 48)

Each player's line for this game from nflverse's weekly stats; the percentage beside his name is his share of the offense's snaps. Share is his part of the team's carries or targets in this game. Defense lists sacks and interceptions; kicking lists field goals.

Keys to the game · from the season numbers, not this game alone4 reads
01
Biggest edge

Backs catch passes

Buccaneers give up 51 yards a game to running backs (32nd), against a league average of 32. Panthers' running backs produce 31 (14th).

02
Opportunity

Deep middle is open

Buccaneers are worst against deep middle throws, allowing +1.01 EPA per attempt. Panthers send 3% of their throws there. That is a small part of their offense so far.

03
Watch out

Third downs favor Buccaneers

Panthers convert 37% of third downs (25th). Buccaneers allow 40% (13th).

04
Wash

Yards per play

Call this one even. Panthers gain 5.1 yards per play (26th). Buccaneers give up 5.8 (24th), with the league at 5.4.

The series · Panthers and Buccaneers since 1999, and this season's records49 meetings

The Panthers lead the series 25–24 since 1999 (they first met in 2002). The Buccaneers have won the last 2. Oct 25, 2026, at Bank of America Stadium: the Buccaneers won 43–13. Bryce Young started at quarterback for the Panthers and Baker Mayfield for the Buccaneers; Dave Canales and Todd Bowles coached.

Panthers at home13–12the Panthers' record
In Tampa Bay11–12the Panthers' record
Most pointsPanthers 48 · Buccaneers 482011 · 2024
Biggest winPanthers by 32 · Buccaneers by 342011 · 2024

The last 5

2026 · Wk 7TB 43 at CAR 13
2025 · Wk 18CAR 14 at TB 16
2025 · Wk 16TB 20 at CAR 23
2024 · Wk 17CAR 14 at TB 48
2024 · Wk 13 · OTTB 26 at CAR 23

2025 records

PanthersBuccaneers
Overall8–98–9
Division3–33–3
Conference6–66–6
Other conference2–32–3
Home5–34–4
Away3–64–5
Last 5WLWLLLLLLW
StreakLost 2Won 1
Points a game18.3 – 22.422.4 – 24.2

Every meeting since 1999, regular season and playoffs, from nflverse's game list, which starts in 1999; the all-time series goes back further. Franchises that moved count as one team (the Raiders, Chargers and Rams). Home and away are from the Panthers' side. Records are this regular season.

Head to head · CAR offense against TB defense
StatCAR CAR offFavors CAR · Favors TBTB TB def allowsNFL avg
Overall
EPA per play
-0.04#26
+0.02#17+0.01
Success rate
43%#18
45%#2044%
Yards per play
5.1#26
5.8#245.4
Explosive play rate
9%#24
10%#1910%
Passing
Pass EPA per dropback
-0.06#25
+0.07#20+0.01
Sack rate
6%#13
6%#217%
Running
Run EPA per carry
-0.05#17
-0.11#5-0.05
Yards per carry
4.3#14
4.1#154.3
Money downs
3rd down conversion
37%#25
40%#1340%
Red zone TD rate
57%#20
65%#2759%
Targets by position
WR yards per game
131#19
148#22140
TE yards per game
37#30
57#2253
TE targets per game
5.8#27
7.5#217.3
RB receiving yards per game
31#14
51#3232
Where the ball goes · EPA per throwDeep is 15+ air yds

Panthers: EPA per throw

Left
Middle
Right
Deep
+0.497% of throws
+0.243% of throws
+0.455% of throws
Short
-0.0333% of throws
+0.1517% of throws
-0.0234% of throws

Buccaneers: EPA allowed per throw

Left
Middle
Right
Deep
+0.3839 throws
+1.0119 throws
+0.1241 throws
Short
+0.06156 throws
+0.24101 throws
+0.17207 throws

Green gains more than expected, red loses value. Cells with fewer than 5 throws are grayed out.