Panthers rout Bucs, clinch No

But sitting at 14-1 on the season, they are obviously in great shape, though they somehow haven’t yet locked down the No. 1 seed in the NFC, and need to pull out a win over the rival Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the regular season finale to ensure home-field advantage in the playoffs.

Make no mistake, the Panthers are more than happy to stay in the friendly confines of Bank of America Stadium, and happy for the first-round bye.

Buccaneers vs Panthers live Watch Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Carolina Panthers live stream online free The Buccaneers don’t have to play key starters if they don’t want to, but a decent number of them will play.

There’s a pretty good chance that Newton breaks that record soon, and will likely set a new record over the span of his career that may be almost impossible to break. Everything here feels just right. “We don’t have to necessarily travel to a hostile environment, you know, when this is our house and hostile for our opponents to come through”. “This is our house – and it’s hostile”.

“It’s very gratifying, but it means nothing if we can’t win in the playoffs”, Davis said.

SHORT-HANDED: Carolina has the NFL’s No. 2 running game, averaging 144 yards per game, but they’ll be without Pro Bowl RB Jonathan Stewart (foot) and backup Fozzy Whitaker (ankle) for Sunday’s game. We were all enjoying it.

Newton was flying around a lot Sunday in a performance that was a microcosm of his season. Hoyer may not be an elite quarterback, but he threw for 293 yards and three touchdowns in the Panthers’ 31-20 victory at EverBank Field in mid-October, when the Buccaneers were playing better defensively.

Winston threw for 325 yards, but was intercepted twice as the Bucs (6-10) finished last in the NFC South for the fourth time in five years.

“Cam Newton was outstanding today”, Bucs coach Lovie Smith said. “You win 15 games in this league, you don’t have to change much”.

And if the Arizona Cardinals or anyone else are going to take down the Panthers, they’re going to have to do it in Charlotte.

“We’ve still got to prepare like there’s a game coming next week”, said receiver Devin Funchess, who secured 120 yards and a touchdown in place of the banged-up Ted Ginn Jr.

_For the second consecutive game post-Odell Beckham intimidation incident, officials lined up across the 50-yard line as the Panthers warmed up.

“Obviously, Cam’s a huge part of what we do, and we probably wouldn’t be where we are without him”.

And while Newton did nothing to hurt his MVP candidacy Sunday in a 38-10 dismantling of Tampa Bay, the other 52 guys on the roster showed again they can play a little bit, too. “We’re 15-1 for a reason”. Tillman had sprained the knee earlier this season and missed four games. His status for the playoffs is uncertain, but Rivera said “there is some concern”.

American Football Fans may access live streams for Buccaneers vs Panthers at NBC Sports Live Extra or Verizon NFL Mobile.

After the game, Winston appeared upset with his teammates. Bucs lead 3-0.

That’s probably not the way the Panthers quarterback envisioned his victory lap. That’s when Newton, who has become the favorite to be the NFL’s Most Valuable Player, converted a pass play for a touchdown. Defensively, the Panthers yield 229.5 yards in passing and 89.2 yards in rushing.

Gambling against injury for the sake of continuity, Ron Rivera let his team play. But as we all know, there is no room for assumptions with games that have some weight. With all of the technology available I can’t believe the players can’t find out from someone on the sidelines.