The Tampa Bay Buccaneers saved their season on Sunday in their win over the Carolina Panthers.
The Buccaneers' playoff hopes were already faint after starting out the season 1-5. They had played their last three games without franchise quarterback Baker Mayfield, but the two-time Pro Bowl quarterback finally returned to the lineup against the Panthers. Tampa Bay pulled off one of the biggest upsets of Todd Bowles' head-coaching tenure, knocking out the NFC South-leading Panthers, 43-13.
While Mayfield's return certainly rejuvenated the team, the ground game and the dominant play in the trenches, not the passing game, were the story of the game. The Buccaneers never struggled or trailed, rushing for 258 yards on 5.4 yards per carry. The rushing attack was led by the duo of Bucky Irving (24 carries, 106 yards, two touchdowns) and Kenneth Gainwell (14 carries, 88 yards). Sean Tucker also added seven carries for 52 yards and a touchdown.
Meanwhile, Mayfield didn't have to do much in his "revenge game" against his former team, throwing the ball just 11 times for 64 yards.
After the game, franchise tackle Tristan Wirfs summed up the Buccaneers' win over the Panthers.
“We want to lead from the front. We want it to be on our shoulders,” Wirfs said of the offensive line on the 97.9 FM (98 Rock) postgame show. ” … It doesn’t have to be so hard … Trying our best, busting our balls, came out on top today.”
The Buccaneers are 2-5, which places them just behind the 3-4 Atlanta Falcons and 3-3 Carolina Panthers. Tampa Bay has two remaining games against the Saints, both in the final four weeks of the season. Meanwhile, they'll have one more game against the Panthers (at home) on Monday Night Football at the end of November. As for the Falcons, they have two matchups against them, with the first at home next week.
Tampa Bay may not be people's favorite to win the division right now, but they're certainly not dead in the water. If they can beat the Falcons next week, talk of a potential return to NFC South supremacy will start heating up.
This article originally appeared on Bucs Wire: Tristan Wirfs makes blunt statement following Buccaneers' 43-13 blowout victory over Panthers