Game recap

Buccaneers @ Panthers

2026 Wk 7 · CAR 13, TB 43

Tampa Bay threw just 11 passes and still scored 43, with its defense adding 9 points.

FanIQ Research · October 26, 2026 · 6 facts, every one from the play-by-play

Tampa Bay scored 43 points on 11 pass attempts, the fewest by any team that scored 40 in a regular season game since 1999.

Rare

Every regular season game since 1999 with 40+ points on 15 or fewer team pass attempts

Season	Week	Team	Opp	Score	Pass att	Carries
2026	7	TB	CAR	43-13	11	49
2007	12	MIN	NYG	41-17	12	39
2025	10	SEA	ARI	44-22	12	46
2006	14	JAX	IND	44-17	14	42
2000	8	DAL	ARI	48-7	15	40
2001	16	WAS	NO	40-10	15	44
2015	1	TEN	TB	42-14	15	32

Baker Mayfield went 7 of 11 for 64 yards and 1 touchdown, and no other Buccaneer threw a pass. The ground game carried 49 times for 258 yards: Bucky Irving had 106 yards and 2 touchdowns, Kenneth Gainwell 88, and Sean Tucker 52 with a 46 yard score.

Why it matters. Forty point games almost always come from volume passing, so a team reaching 43 with 11 throws had to get its points from somewhere other than the quarterback. Here that was field position and the defense: short fields after takeaways meant the offense rarely needed to throw. The run game still did real work, with 258 yards that are the most in any Tampa Bay game this season.

Tampa Bay's defense scored a touchdown and a two point conversion. Only five other defenses have done both in one game since 2015.

Rare

Every game since 2015 where one defense returned a turnover for a touchdown and also scored a defensive two point conversion

Season	Week	Type	Defense	Final
2015	13	REG	NO	CAR 41, NO 38
2016	13	REG	KC	KC 29, ATL 28
2018	17	REG	LAC	LAC 23, DEN 9
2019	13	REG	KC	LV 9, KC 40
2024	Wild Card	POST	HOU	LAC 12, HOU 32
2026	7	REG	TB	TB 43, CAR 13

Al-Quadin Muhammad sacked Bryce Young and forced a fumble, and Calijah Kancey returned it 32 yards for a touchdown. Two minutes later Tykee Smith blocked the extra point after Carolina's only touchdown of the half, and Zyon McCollum recovered it for 2 points. Smith and McCollum each added an interception.

Why it matters. A defensive two point conversion has happened 17 times in the database since the first one in 2015, so pairing it with a defensive touchdown in the same game is a short list. Those 9 points were the difference between a comfortable lead and a blowout before halftime. They also explain how the offense could stay on the ground: the defense was doing the scoring.

Carolina gave the ball away four times, and 22 of Tampa Bay's 43 points came off those mistakes or straight from its defense.

Split

Every Tampa Bay score, in order

Qtr	Clock	Score	Points	Came from
1	7:26	Bucky Irving 4 yd run	7	Offense
2	14:15	Chase McLaughlin 22 yd FG	3	David Moore muffed punt at CAR 18
2	11:15	Calijah Kancey 32 yd fumble return	7	Defense
2	9:18	Blocked extra point returned	2	Defense
2	3:58	Bucky Irving 1 yd run	7	Offense
2	0:12	Tez Johnson 14 yd catch	7	Zyon McCollum INT
3	6:35	Chase McLaughlin 44 yd FG	3	Tykee Smith INT at CAR 32
4	10:31	Sean Tucker 46 yd run	7	Offense

Split by source

Source	Scores	Points
Carolina giveaways or Tampa Bay defense	5	22
Offense on its own drives	3	21

Tampa Bay did not turn the ball over. Carolina lost two fumbles, one on a sack and one on a muffed punt, and Bryce Young threw two interceptions. The three takeaways that the offense took over all started in Carolina territory.

Why it matters. A plus four turnover margin is usually enough to win by itself, and this game shows how: the takeaways handed Tampa Bay short fields, and two of its scores came with the offense on the sideline. The offense on its own drives produced 21 points, which is close to the 19.8 a game it averaged coming in. The other half of the score was Carolina's doing.

Carolina's offense came in at plus 0.116 EPA per play. It finished this game at minus 0.268, its worst of the season.

Anomaly

Carolina offensive EPA per play by game, 2026

Week	Opp	Plays	EPA/play	Success%
1	CHI	62	0.182	48.4%
2	ATL	59	0.142	44.1%
3	CLE	74	-0.127	35.1%
4	DET	70	0.289	50.0%
6	PHI	73	0.119	43.8%
7	TB	54	-0.268	40.7%
1 to 6	All	338	0.116	44.1%

Bryce Young passing by game, 2026

Week	Opp	Comp-Att	Yards	TD	INT	Sacked
1	CHI	23-37	361	3	1	2
2	ATL	23-36	287	3	0	2
3	CLE	26-48	291	1	1	3
4	DET	29-41	329	2	0	3
6	PHI	20-39	281	2	0	2
7	TB	14-27	163	1	2	5

Young had not thrown for fewer than 281 yards in any 2026 game before this one. He finished with 163, two interceptions and a season high five sacks, and Kenny Pickett finished the game. Darren Waller's 50 yard touchdown was the only Carolina score before the fourth quarter.

Why it matters. Carolina's passing game had been its most reliable unit, so a drop of almost 0.4 EPA per play off its own baseline points at the pass rush rather than a general slump. Five sacks, one of them a fumble returned for a touchdown, took away the volume Young normally works with. The 54 offensive plays were also the fewest in any Carolina game this season, which is what three straight giveaways in the second quarter do to a play count.

Tampa Bay had not scored more than 27 points in a game this season. It scored 43 while throwing a season low 11 passes.

Comparison

Tampa Bay by game, 2026

Week	Opp	Result	Pts	Pass att	Carries	Rush yds
1	CIN	L 27-33	27	28	20	89
2	CLE	L 19-23	19	34	25	137
3	MIN	L 16-23	16	37	21	57
4	GB	L 14-17	14	27	31	141
5	DAL	W 24-16	24	25	39	241
6	PIT	L 19-26	19	43	25	102
7	CAR	W 43-13	43	11	49	258

Tampa Bay entered the game 1 and 5, having scored 119 points in six games, or 19.8 a game. Its other win, at Dallas in week 5, followed the same pattern on a smaller scale: 39 carries and 241 rushing yards, both the highest marks of the season until this game.

Why it matters. Tampa Bay's two wins are its two most run heavy games, and its five losses all came with 31 or fewer carries. That does not prove running causes winning, since teams with a lead run more, but here the lead came early from the defense and the offense then leaned on it. The 16 point jump over its previous season high shows how much one game of takeaways can move a scoring average.

Tampa Bay's 30 point margin is its biggest win in Charlotte since at least 1999.

Milestone

Tampa Bay's largest wins at Carolina since 1999

Season	Week	TB	CAR	Margin
2026	7	43	13	30
2021	16	32	6	26
2020	10	46	23	23
2007	4	20	7	13
2010	2	20	7	13

Largest margins in the full series since 1999, either team

Season	Week	Result	Margin
2024	17	CAR 14, TB 48	34
2011	16	TB 16, CAR 48	32
2026	7	TB 43, CAR 13	30
2015	17	TB 10, CAR 38	28
2021	16	TB 32, CAR 6	26

Across 49 meetings since 1999, only two were more lopsided than this one. The 43 points are also the third most Tampa Bay has scored against Carolina in that span, behind 48 at home in 2024 and 46 in Charlotte in 2020.

Why it matters. Division games between these two are usually tight, which is why a 30 point result lands near the top of a 49 game series. Three of Tampa Bay's four biggest wins at Carolina have come since 2020, so this result fits a recent run rather than standing alone. The two teams meet again in Tampa in week 12.

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