Studs and duds from Tampa Bay’s 9-0 win over the Panthers
To say Sunday’s game against the Carolina Panthers was a rough outing may be putting it nicely.
Both teams struggled on Sunday, with neither team scoring a touchdown, but at the end of the day, the Bucs came out on top. The team won 9-0 to take victory in Charlotte and punch a ticket to the playoffs, and despite the slow proceedings, the team got to wear its hat and t-shirts and fly home knowing it’ll survive for at least one more week.
With a 9-0 score comes some studs to stifle the Panthers and some duds to hurt the offense — check out how we saw these players in Week 18 below:
Stud: S Antoine Winfield Jr.
Antoine Winfield Jr. remains inevitable. The safety not only ended the day with five combined tackles, but he was also solely responsible for a 10-point swing that won Tampa Bay the game. He erased a touchdown off the board after peanut-punching the ball out of the hands of D.J. Chark at the goal line and also got a sack on Bryce Young that moved the Panthers to a farther field goal that Carolina would end up missing. He may not be a Pro Bowler, but he damn better be an All-Pro.
Dud: OG Cody Mauch
It was a very rough day for guard Cody Mauch against an interior that boasted Derrick Brown, among others. He was frequently beaten at the line, causing stuffs and sacks across the day. Mauch has been improving for a bit since his game against the San Francisco 49ers, but he had a regression against the Panthers in Week 18.
Stud: RB Rachaad White
Rachaad White continues to be Tampa Bay’s swiss army knife. White not only ran for 75 yards on almost four yards per carry, but he also caught four passes for 18 yards in the passing game, too. He remains a bellcow for Tampa Bay and showed his worth on Sunday.
Dud: HC Todd Bowles
Make no mistake — the Bucs may have won, but this was an awful coaching performance from Todd Bowles.
The team continued to come out flat after last week’s performance. Tampa Bay’s two-minute drill was awful on all sorts of accounts, with a throw to Chris Godwin that would have ended the half, running the ball with 16 seconds left and calling a hail mary where no one got open. He was fine as a defensive coach, but he was also bailed out by a few costly turnovers from the Panthers. All in all, it’s good Bowles was able to win the game, but he has to be much better during the playoffs.
Stud: K Chase McLaughlin
Chase McLaughlin did all of the work — and we mean that almost literally. McLaughlin scored all nine of Tampa Bay’s points on field goals and hit a nice 57-yard shot for one of them, ending his season with the best Bucs field goal percentage in team history.
Dud: Trey Palmer
Trey Palmer had a good showing in Week 17, but it wasn’t to be for Week 18. Palmer not only had yet another fumble that center Robert Hainsey thankfully fell on, but he also dropped a pass right through his hands in the red zone on a good ball from Baker Mayfield. Palmer will hope to tap into some of his better play this year when the playoffs come around.
