TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-7) moved into first place in the NFC South division with the dominant 48-14 win over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.
The Bucs also got some help from the Washington Commanders on Sunday. The Commanders' 30-24 overtime win against the Atlanta Falcons (8-8) gives Tampa Bay a one-game lead over Atlanta with one game to play.
Many Bucs fans were heavily invested in the thrilling finish between the Falcons and Commanders. However, head coach Todd Bowles was watching the back of his eyelids.
“I was actually asleep, but I saw the results this morning,” Bowles said. “I saw the highlights this morning.”
In Coach Bowles’ defense, the game did end very late, and he arrived at work very early.
“Very fortunate. It was a good ball game,” he added. “It went back and forth. But to have a chance to control our own destiny is all that we can ask for so we have to go out and take it.”
Take it — that’s what Tampa Bay has done since mid-November, where they were 4-6.
In the last six weeks, the Bucs are 5-1 and have out-scored their opponent 196-100 since their Week 11 bye.
“I think they’ve responded well,” Bowles said. “We’ve won 5 out of 6. We have one more to win. They’ve taken it game by game. They’ve taken the little things everyday and tried to get better. We didn’t look outside of what we couldn’t control. We can’t do that this week as well.”
The Bucs might have some ‘duck luck’ on their side, too. In the third quarter, a duck waddled onto the field as the Bucs blocked a Panthers punt and returned it for a touchdown.
The ‘Ducky Irving’ and ‘Tampa Bay Duck-aneers’ phenomenon is all over social media. Bowles is not too impressed.
“It’s like watching ‘The Flintstones’ and ‘The Jetsons.’ It’s a cartoon to me,” he said.
Now, with a win over the New Orleans Saints (5-11) at home on Sunday, the Bucs will win a fourth straight NFC South title and host a first-round playoff game.
A pile of rubble is what’s left of what had been the happy home that Victoria Sowell shared with her military veteran husband Casey and their son and daughter.
