The Tampa Bay Buccaneers continued taking their NFC South opponents down to the wire in rematch games. A week after missing a game tying field goal as time expired versus Atlanta, the Carolina Panthers nearly lost at home. Instead, a Buccaneers missed field goal left three minutes for quarterback Cam Newton and the Panthers offense to mount a comeback.
After gaining much of the needed yardage through the air, Carolina was knocking on the door of the end zone with just over one minute remaining. Three plays later the Panthers needed a defensive penalty and ensuing first down, converted by the slimmest of margins, to get a fresh set of downs with 35 seconds remaining.