As the 4-6 Bucs prepare for what they hope is a bounce-back road game against the 5-5 Colts in Week 12, the NFL announced Tuesday that Tampa Bay’s Week 13 game against the Panthers has a new kickoff time.

The league flexed the Broncos-Texans matchup to 1:00 p.m. as Tampa Bay’s return home for the first time since Nov. 12 is now set for 4:05 p.m. on Dec. 3. The game will be televised by CBS.

It’ll be the first matchup of the season between the Bucs and Panthers, who are 1-9 entering Week 12. It’ll also be the first time Baker Mayfield faces the team he spent the start of the 2022 season with.

The two teams square off again in Week 18, with the kickoff time for that game still to be determined.

Bucs Need To Take Advantage Of Games With Panthers

Bucs RT Tristan Wirfs and Panthers OLB Brian Burns – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The Bucs, Saints and Falcons are all still very much in the race for the NFC South title. The Panthers, struggling with a bad roster and rookie quarterback Bryce Young, are the only team out of it as December approaches.

Tampa Bay is 4-6, but sits just one game out of first place in the division. The fact that Todd Bowles’ team has four divisional games remaining is big for its chances to make a late-season push for the playoffs. Not only that, but two of those games come against the one-win Panthers. New Orleans and Atlanta only play Carolina once while having to play each other twice down the stretch.

Of course, by no means are the Panthers a “gimme game” given the fact that the Bucs haven’t earned the right to be the assumed winners of any game. Plus, Carolina’s one win came in a 15-13 game against the Texans, who went on to beat the Bucs 39-37 the following week. Frank Reich’s team has three one-possession losses as well, so it’s not as if Tampa Bay can approach this one lightly.

The Bucs and Panthers split the season series last year after Tampa Bay had won four straight between 2020 and 2021.