The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers will battle for the last available playoff spot in the NL South when they face off in Week 18.
First, the Bucs lost to the Miami Dolphins by a score of 20-17 on Sunday.
In his second career start, Dolphins quarterback Quinn Ewers completed 14 of 22 passes for 172 yards through the air and two touchdown passes. Theo Wease Jr. – for his first in the NFL – and Greg Dulcich were the beneficiaries, one for 63 yards and the other for 11 yards. He became the first Dolphins rookie to throw two touchdown passes in the first half of a game since Dan Marino in 1983.
For Tampa Bay, Baker Mayfield completed 33 of 44 passes for 270 air yards and two touchdowns. However, he was intercepted twice.
Chris Godwin Jr. scored the touchdown on a five-yard pass in the first quarter. Godwin finished the game with seven receptions and 108 yards. Then, with exactly one minute left, Mike Evans caught a four-yard pass from Mayfield to cut the lead to three points, but to no avail. The man who is 10th in history for the number of touchdowns caught concluded the game with three receptions and 31 yards.
For their part, the Panthers had to admit defeat with a score of 27 to 10 against the Seattle Seahawks.
Zach Charbonnet ran for 110 yards and two touchdowns, and the Seattle Seahawks scored twice after Panthers turnovers in the third quarter to strengthen their first position in the National Association.
Sam Darnold threw an interception in the end zone, but finished the game with 18 of 27 completions for 147 yards and a touchdown for the Seahawks, who will secure the West Division title and first place in the NL if the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams do not win their respective next games.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba caught nine balls for 72 yards and the Seahawks (13-3) won a sixth straight game.
The Panthers (8-8) had a chance to win the National South Division title after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost 20-17 to the Dolphins on Sunday in Miami.
Now they’ll have to defeat the Buccaneers next week if they want to capture the title for the first time since 2015 and end a seven-season playoff drought.
They could still win the title by losing this game if the Atlanta Falcons (6-9) win their last two games.
“We definitely feel like it’s a missed opportunity, but we also know what lies ahead,” Panthers head coach Dave Canales said. It’s clear and clear. We must forget and we must quickly focus on the next match. »
Bryce Young was limited to 54 yards, while completing 14 of 24 passes. He also threw an interception and the Panthers lost after winning for the fifth straight time. Young ran for 30 yards and scored the only touchdown for the local favorites. The Panthers only had 139 yards of offense.
After a lackluster first half that ended with a score of 3-3 on the board, the Seahawks took control of the game thanks to their defensive unit in the third quarter.
DeMarcus Lawrence recovered a dropped ball by Chuba Hubbard deep in Panthers territory and Charbonnet completed a two-yard run into the end zone. On the Panthers’ next possession, Julian Love intercepted a Young pass, and Darnold connected with AJ Barner 17 yards for a touchdown.
The Panthers responded with a 13-play, 69-yard drive capped by Young’s touchdown run to cut the lead to 17-10.
The Panthers’ defensive unit appeared poised to shut down the Seahawks on the next possession, but cornerback Jaycee Horn was penalized for catching Smith-Njigba’s face protector on a third down, more than 15 yards out on the first play.
The Seahawks took advantage, as Jason Myers made a 30-yard field goal to increase his team’s lead to two possessions with eight minutes to play.
The Seahawks sacked Young to regain the ball, and Charbonnet then scored the insurance touchdown.
A first in NFL history signed by Ja’Marr Chase
Ja’Marr Chase caught two touchdown passes from Joe Burrow, who had 305 passing yards, helping the Cincinnati Bengals defeat the Arizona Cardinals 37-14.
Chase finished the game with seven receptions for 60 yards and became the first player in NFL history to have at least 80 receptions, 1,000 passing yards and seven touchdowns in each of his first five seasons.
Burrow surpassed the 300 passing yard mark for the 28th time, tying the franchise record held by Andy Dalton.
Chase Brown rushed for 101 yards and scored two touchdowns.
The Bengals (6-10) are now 3-2 since Burrow returned from surgery on his left toe. Trey McBride of the Cardinals had ten catches, bringing his total to 119 this season and setting the NFL record for receptions in a season by a tight end. He surpasses Zach Ertz’s 116 receptions caught in 2018 and also breaks the Cardinals record held by DeAndre Hopkins (115 receptions in 2020).
The Cardinals (3-13) had the seventh-best aerial attack in the league, but the Bengals’ defense, clearly improving, limited them to 233 total yards. Jacoby Brissett threw for 212 yards and two touchdowns.
The Bengals scored on their first two possessions.
Seventh straight victory for Jacksonville
Trevor Lawrence scored two touchdowns, Cam Little made a game-winning 42-yard field goal with 6:58 left in the game and the Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Indianapolis Colts 23-17 on Sunday, moving within one victory of their first American South title since 2022.
The Jaguars (12-4) won their seventh straight game, a day after two-time defending division champion Houston beat the Los Angeles Chargers to stay in the title race. The Texans’ victory also eliminated the Colts from the playoff race.
Jacksonville’s Liam Coen became the first head coach in NFL history to take over a four-win team and win 12 games the following season.
Lawrence completed 23 of 37 passes for 263 yards, but his streak of consecutive games with at least 225 passing yards, two touchdowns and a passer efficiency rating above 100 ended at four. He didn’t throw a touchdown pass and threw his first interception in five weeks.
The Jaguars held off 44-year-old Colts quarterback Philip Rivers from his first win in three games since returning to the league after five years of retirement.
Indy (8-8) has lost six straight and seven of its last eight, becoming the sixth team since 1970 — and the first since the Oakland Raiders in 1995 — to miss the playoffs after starting the season 7-1.
Rivers completed 16 of 28 passes for 135 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. His interception gave Jacksonville the lead.
The fourth-oldest quarterback to start an NFL game used his experience to put Jacksonville in trouble early in the game.
Rivers guided the Colts to a field goal after Ashton Dulin’s 53-yard kickoff return early in the game. He then took advantage of Travis Etienne’s fumble on a missed action to lead the Colts on a long offensive series that Jonathan Taylor concluded with a three-yard touchdown, giving Indy a 10-0 lead at the start of the second quarter.
Lawrence responded with a four-yard touchdown run and then a six-yarder midway through the third quarter to give Jacksonville a 14-10 lead.
Dulin’s second long return, this time 56 yards, allowed Rivers to complete a five-yard touchdown pass to Mo Alie-Cox, to give his team a 17-14 lead.
Little tied the game with a 34-yard field goal, broke the tie with a 42-yard field goal and extended the lead with a 53-yard field goal late in the game, before the Jaguars sealed the game by intercepting Riley Leonard’s final pass in the end zone.
Saints’ winning streak continues
Tyler Shough threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Austin Jr. with 6:22 left in the game to give the New Orleans Saints the lead, who overcame a 13-point deficit to beat the Tennessee Titans 34-26.
Shough improved to 5-3 as a starter, helping the Saints (6-10) to their fourth straight victory. A second-round pick by the Saints in the last NFL auction, Shough had the upper hand over the first pick of this draft, Cam Ward.
The 26-year-old Saints quarterback completed 22 of 27 passes for a career-high 333 yards and two touchdowns.
Audric Estime added a 32-yard touchdown run at 3:44 in the fourth quarter, as New Orleans took control of the game in the second half. The Saints outscored the Titans 24-6 and outgained them 331-152 in yards after halftime.
Chase Young accounted for 1.5 of the Saints’ four sacks and also scored a defensive touchdown after knocking the ball out of Ward’s hands.
The young Titans quarterback finished the game with 251 yards and two touchdowns.
