Bucs hold off Panthers 17-16, finish with winning record

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Jameis Winston threw for 202 yards and one touchdown Sunday, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers broke up Cam Newton's two-point conversion throw in the closing seconds to hold off the Carolina Panthers for a 17-16 victory Sunday and their first winning season in six years.

Winston threw a 10-yard pass to Mike Evans to snap a fourth-quarter tie and became the first player in NFL history to start his career with consecutive 4,000-yard seasons.

But the Bucs (9-7), still in contention for a wild-card playoff berth, left Raymond James Stadium still needing lots of help to secure their first postseason berth since 2007.

Winston's franchise record-setting 28th TD pass put the Bucs ahead 17-10 with 3:10 remaining. Newton, however, moved the Panthers (6-10) right down the field, with help of a 47-yard pass to Kelvin Benjamin and two fourth-down passes to set up a 5-yard scoring pass to trim Carolina's deficit to one with 17 seconds left.

Instead of kicking the extra point to send the game into overtime, the defending NFC champions opted to go for 2 points. Newton's pass intended for tight end Olsen was batted away by safety Bradley McDougald.

Tampa Bay entered the regular-season finale clinging to extremely slim playoff hopes, needing to beat the Panthers and have six other games end with favorable results, including Washington finishing with a tie against the New York Giants.

Newton completed 18 of 32 passes for 237 yards, but was intercepted three times.

The Panthers forced a pair of turnovers by Winston in the first half, but couldn't convert them into points. Graham Gano missed three field goals, including a 36-yarder that would have given Carolina a 13-10 lead with just over six minutes remaining.

Winston was 20 of 35 with one interception and a fumble. He broke Josh Freeman's club records for passing yards and touchdowns in a season, finishing with 4,090 yards and 28 TDs. Freeman threw for 4,065 yards and 27 TDs in 2012.

Associated Press