The loss means that if the Panthers beat the Saints and then the Bucs either the following week or in the final game of the 2025 season, then the Panthers will be division champs. Because of that, and after a quick glance at the NFC South standings, the Panthers are leading the race, clearly.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles unleashed a profanity-laced outburst, calling his team's blown lead "inexcusable" after a stunning fourth-quarter collapse.

With two home losses only four days apart to division rivals who had been eliminated from postseason contention, the Buccaneers have now lost five of six, slipping to 7-7 and (for now) second place in the NFC South.