CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Carolina Panthers lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a wild overtime finish in front of a raucous Bank of America Stadium crowd.
Running back Chuba Hubbard fumbled on Carolina's overtime drive at the Tampa Bay 34-yard line, which eliminated the Panthers' chances for a game-winning score. The Buccaneers (6-6) took over and hit a game-winning field goal from Chase McLaughlin. The Buccaneers won 26-23.
The Panthers (3-9) trailed 20-16 with three minutes left in regulation. Carolina quarterback Bryce Young hit receiver Adam Thielen with a 25-yard touchdown pass with 30 seconds left in the game to put the Panthers ahead 23-20. Young completed 5 of 7 passes for 55 yards on the late drive.
Tampa Bay forced overtime with a 51-yard Chase McLaughlin field goal as time expired.
The Panthers have clinched their seventh straight losing season. Carolina's last winning season was 2017, the year before David Tepper took over as the team's owner. The Panthers are 34-77 in their seven straight losing seasons.
Young finished the game with a season-high 298 yards passing, one passing touchdown and a rushing touchdown. He threw for a career-high 186 yards in the first half.
Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield, who started for the Panthers in 2022 and played under Panthers head coach Dave Canales in 2023, threw for 235 yards passing with one touchdown and two interceptions.
Rookie running back Bucky Irving had a career-high 152 yards rushing and a touchdown for Tampa Bay as the Buccaneers rushed for a total of 236 yards. The Panthers' defense allows a league-high 167 yards rushing per game.
Carolina's running game was mostly stalled as Chuba Hubbard led the team with 43 yards rushing.
Red zone efficiency once again plagued the Panthers. Carolina scored just one touchdown on its first four red zone trips, which left the Panthers behind in the fourth quarter.
Third down was an issue for both teams. The Buccaneers failed on their first eight third downs and the Panthers ended the day 6 of 16 on third down.
"We gotta control the things that we can control," Canales said after the loss. "We gotta take care of the ball at the end right there. We're in a field goal position to be able to win the game in overtime."
Canales said his message to Hubbard after the fumble was to control the ball in that situation. He commended Young's performance and the team's resilience.
Tampa Bay scored first with a Mayfield pass to Mike Evans that featured a terrific one-handed catch in the end zone.
Carolina's Eddy Piñeiro connected on a 47-yard field goal on the next drive to keep the Panthers in the game. The usually reliable kicker missed two field goal attempts in the first half, dropping him from first to fourth on the NFL's all-time field goal percentage list.
The Panthers took a 10-7 lead in the second quarter with a 10-yard Byrce Young touchdown run. The drive began at Tampa Bay's 36-yard line after a shanked Buccaneers punt.
Tampa Bay tied the game on their next drive. Thielen made a spectacular effort to catch a would-be touchdown late in the first half. The pass was ruled incomplete even after a review showed Thielen controlled the ball and had his knee hit in bounds. Piñeiro added the go-ahead field goal on the next play to put the Panthers ahead 13-10 at the half.
"I thought he had control going down, he got his knee down," Canales said. "It's a close call and then they called incomplete to start. So it's hard to turn those over."
Cornerback Chau Smith-Wade intercepted a Mayfield pass that put the Panthers in scoring position.
Mayfield was hurt in the third quarter while being sacked by Carolina's Josey Jewell. Another defender stepped on Mayfield's ankle as he went down. Kyle Trask stepped in for Mayfield for two plays. Mayfield threw an interception to Carolina's Xavier Woods on his first play back on the field.
The Panthers reached Tampa Bay's 4-yard line on the ensuing drive but were unable to score a touchdown and took a 16-10 lead with a Piñeiro field goal.
Mayfield and the Buccaneers pushed their way downfield to take the lead with a 6-yard Irving rushing score.
Irving had 60 yards rushing on Tampa Bay's next drive as the Buccaneers worked the clock but the Panthers defense came up with a huge goal line stop to force a field goal.
Young orchestrated a go-ahead drive that began with just over three minutes to go. He hit Thielen for a 25-yard score with 30 seconds left.
But just like last week against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Panthers' defense allowed a quarterback to beat them late. Mayfield threw for 29 yards and ran for 10 yards to put the Buccaneers in position for the game-tying field goal to force overtime.
Tampa Bay reached field goal range on the first possession of overtime but McLaughlin missed a 55-yard kick.
The Panthers reached field goal range on their overtime possession before Hubbard's fumble.