Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Carolina Panthers Match Player Stats On Jan 03, 2016

The Sports Xchange
Jan 3, 2016

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Quarterback Cam Newton made another case for the NFL's Most Valuable Player honors and the Carolina Panthers secured the top seed for the NFC playoffs with a 38-10 victory against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday at Bank of America Stadium.

Newton ran for two touchdowns and passed for two more touchdowns for the NFC South champions.

The Panthers cruised in their regular-season finale, completing a 15-1 regular season.

Carolina will open the NFC playoffs at home either Jan. 16 or 17.

Newton's 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter tied the NFL career record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback with 43, pulling even with Steve Young, who's retired as a player. Earlier, Newton tied an NFL record by posting 31 career games of at least one touchdown pass and one touchdown run, also sharing that mark with Young.

Newton finished 21-for-26 for 293 yards without an interception. He wrapped up his day with a 16-yard touchdown strike to wide receiver Devin Funchess with 7:22 left.

The Buccaneers (6-10) lost their final four games after flirting with playoff contention in early December.

Tampa Bay quarterback Jameis Winston ended his rookie season by completing 29 of 47 passes for 325 yards and two interceptions. He had a 4-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

Tampa Bay opened the scoring with Connor Barth's 39-yard field goal late in the first quarter. That came after the Buccaneers recovered Funchess' fumble in Carolina territory.

Newton put the Panthers ahead with a 1-yard run with 12:35 to play in the second quarter, capping a nine-play, 77-yard drive.

That move was followed by chants of "M-V-P, M-V-P."

Kicker Graham Gano's 49-yard field goal on Carolina's next possession pushed the lead to 10-3.

Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis' interception and 22-yard return to the Tampa Bay 46 set up what became running back Cameron Artis-Payne's first career touchdown run from 11 yards out.

It was 24-3 at halftime courtesy of Newton's 31-yard touchdown strike to wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery.

The half ended with back-to-back incompletions after the Buccaneers reached the Carolina 2-yard line.

Tampa Bay fullback Jorvorskie Lane was taken from the field on a cart after suffering a first-quarter lower leg injury that was described as gruesome. He was blocking on the play.

In the third quarter, Carolina cornerback Charles Tillman went out for the rest of the game with a knee injury. He was in his third game back since missing about a month with a knee injury.

NOTES: Carolina has won six consecutive games against Tampa Bay. That included a 37-23 outcome Oct. 4 at Tampa Bay. ... QB Jameis Winston is one of three rookies in NFL history with 3,500 yards passing, 20 or more touchdowns passing and five or more touchdowns rushing. ... Winston played the past two seasons in this stadium, directing Florida State to victories against Duke and Georgia Tech, respectively, in Atlantic Coast Conference championship games. ... Several Carolina players were inactive as expected while nursing injuries. Those included RB Jonathan Stewart, S Kurt Coleman and WR Ted Ginn Jr. This means Stewart finishes the regular season 11 yards shy of 1,000 rushing yards for the season.