Panthers end Bucs’ season with rout

Sunny and crisp day here for the game between the Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Carolina Panthers (15-1) quarterback Cam Newton accounted for four touchdowns against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-10) Sunday which led to a 38-10 victory.

Carolina has a 14-1 record so far for the season and is looking to dominate in the postseason.

Running back Cameron Artis-Payne scored his first career touchdown with an 11-yard run in the second quarter and wide receiver Devin Funchess produced his first career 100-yard game, finishing with seven catches on eight targets for 120 yards and a touchdown.

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. You’d think their spotters in the booth would have seen that.

Carolina passed its first test in a seemingly must-win situation, with coach Ron Rivera applying Riverboat blinders and preventing his players from learning about the developments in Arizona, where Seattle’s 36-6 rout of the Cardinals provided the other means to home-field advantage in the NFC.

That’s probably not the way the Panthers quarterback envisioned his victory lap.

“I didn’t want to know”, Rivera said. “Keep true to who you are”.

“It’s a part of what we do”, said Davis, who has four interceptions for 22 yards. I love this group of defensive backs-we call ourselves the thieves…it’s not just words.

“These guys are confident that we can go wherever we got to go”, Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. A Week 16 loss to the Falcons has already tainted that flawless Panthers season, but Newton and Co. are less interested in mourning past losses and more interested prepping for the playoffs. And Newton made the “dab” insanely popular in recent weeks and soon everyone was doing the dance.

Newton had put the Panthers ahead with 12:35 to play in the second quarter, prompting the crowd at Bank of America Stadium to chant: “MVP, MVP…” “Nothing is going to change. Everybody just said I had a good game”, Funchess said. We’re not celebrating because we’re losing. Fortunately for Newton, tight end Greg Olsen will be active today. “I feel more happy about the team winning”.

“We’re going to work this week”, Rivera said.

That setback cost Carolina a shot to match the 1972 Miami Dolphins as the only unbeaten National Football League teams.

Rivera admitted there’s concern about Tillman’s knee, which he sprained against Tennessee on November 15.

Rivera said he was concerned last Monday when he saw how down some of the players were. Bucs fullback Jorvorskie Lane was carted off the field after Tampa Bay’s first play of the game with a broken leg.

The Panthers have beaten all three this season. “It was all about getting back on track and creating some momentum”.