Though it wasn’t by choice — maybe it would have been, we’ll never know — the Buccaneers started with the football after the Carolina Panthers won the toss and elected to defer to the second half. On their first drive, Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston led an 11-play, 74-yard drive that ended in six points. Winston hit wide receiver Adam Humphries three different times on the drive, including the pass that went for the score.

On the Panthers’ first drive, they did not have the same amount of success the Buccaneers did. They went six yards backwards in their first three plays, and on that third play, Panthers quarterback Cam Newton threw an interception to Bucs safety Andrew Adams on his first attempt of the game. With good field position, the Bucs then nailed a field goal to make the game 10-0 in favor of the home team.

The Panthers got back on a roll on their next drive thanks to a 53-yard run by running back Christian McCaffrey. Following his big gain on the ground, McCaffrey then caught the following play for a touchdown to make it a one-score game at 10-7.

After the early scores there was a lull in the middle of the first half. A punt by the Buccaneers was followed up by a punt by Carolina. After that the Bucs took the ball all the way to the 1-yard line, but a fumble by Bucs running back Peyton Barber gave it back to Carolina. They would then go on to punt, as would the Buccaneers to follow.

When Carolina did start to get it rolling on their following drive, they took the ball 50 yards in seven plays before Newton threw his second interception of the game, one that was returned all the way to the Panthers’ 36-yard line by cornerback Javien Elliott, who was starting since the Bucs were down their top three cornerbacks.

After a few plays that got them into the red zone, Winston hit wide receiver Chris Godwin in the corner of the end zone to extend their lead to 17-7 at the half.

The Panthers came out and moved the ball much better to start the second half than they did in the first half. They drove the ball 56 yards in nine plays, but the Bucs defense was able to shape up and hold them to just three points, making the score 17-10.

Following the Panthers first score of the half, the Bucs were able to respond with a quick 75 yards in six plays to end in six points. The big play on that drive was actually a defensive pass interference call that wide receiver Bobo Wilson drew in the end zone that moved the ball 52 yards. After running back Peyton Barber punched it in, the Bucs became leaders by a score of 24-10.

But Carolina was determined to not go away. On their following drive, they took the ball 92 yards in 10 plays to once again get points on the board, this time in the form of six points. The Buccaneers just could not seems to stop the Panthers offensive weapons when they go the ball in space, and they eventually ran out of room with their backs against the end zone as Newton tossed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Devin Funchess.

After that, the Bucs punted on their next drive. As the Panthers were driving the ball down the field, at that point only down one score, it looked like they were taking momentum on their side for the final minutes of the game. But that all changed when safety Andrew Adams got his second interception of the game.

The Bucs got the ball back after the turnover, but once again couldn’t do much and had to punt. When Carolina got the ball back again, they continued moving the ball with ease. That was until safety Andrew Adams recorded his third interception of the game.

Unfortunately, as was the case twice before, the Bucs could not get anything going on offense and were forced to punt after a quick three plays. When the Panthers got the ball back, it was back to business as they were finding open receivers in quick spots down the field. Though the Bucs didn’t get a turnover, they did get a turnover on downs, as they stopped the Panthers on fourth down at midfield.

Bucs offense didn’t do much in terms of yardage after that, but they did burn all of the Panthers timeouts and brought the clock to 1:14 when they punted the ball back to Carolina.

But Carolina couldn’t punch it in, and the Buccaneers were victorious 24-17.