‘Out of our control’ – Bucs forced into worst case scenario as Tampa Bay left to rely on New Orleans favors

Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers handled business against the Carolina Panthers in their final game of the 2025 NFL regular season.

But now they have to wait to see if their 16-14 victory over their rivals is enough to see them crowned as the NFC South divisional champions, and more crucially, book their spot in the post-season.

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Entering their Week 18 clash against the Panthers, the Bucs knew that if they lost, then they would be officially eliminated from the playoffs.

In torrential rain at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Mayfield answered the call, and completed 16-of-22 passing for 203 yards and a touchdown, albeit also firing an interception.

But even with their win, which has the divisional winner guaranteed to have an 8-9 losing record, the Bucs now need to rely on their divisional rivals in the New Orleans Saints to help them get over the line.

This playoff permutation came about after the Atlanta Falcons pulled off a stunning 27-24 victory over the Los Angeles Rams in Week 17, with the Panthers needing to rely on $180 million veteran Kirk Cousins and co to get the job done at home for them to win the divisional title.

With the Falcons entering the contest at 7-9, a win would see them force a three-way tie with Carolina and Tampa Bay, which would see the Panthers’ 3-1 record between the three teams be the deciding factor in that scenario.

Players from both teams in ‘weird’ situation

Players from both teams spoke of just how ‘weird’ it would be to root for their rivals on the final day of the regular season.

“Man, it’s gonna be difficult,” Bucs linebacker Lavonte David told Scott Van Pelt postgame. “It’s going to be especially difficult because I’m gonna have to be rooting for the Saints tomorrow.

“That’s going to be a tough task to do, but hey, hopefully they get the job done.

“Our whole thing is that we took care of what we had to take care of today. That’s what we did. In a sloppy football game with rain, muddy, but we was able to get the job done and I’m very proud of this team.”

“It is weird,” Buccaneers tight end Cade Otton said of the situation in the NFC South. “I hate to say it, but ‘Who dat? Go Saints!’ You spell it with an ‘eaux’ too. But yeah, we’ll be waiting around and cheering for the Saints, which is weird.”

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Former first-round pick Tristan Wirfs simply couldn’t join his teammates in actively rooting for New Orleans, and said, “It is strange. I would have loved to have been able to just clinch today and be done with it.

“But it’s out of our control now. I’m not going to sit here and say I’m going to root for the Saints. I’ll tell you that. I’ll root against the Falcons. We’ll see how it goes.”

Carolina’s, who are on the cusp of winning their first division title since 2015, when they went 15-1 and reached the Super Bowl, quarterback Young revealed that he may not be able to even watch.

“It’ll be a tough one,” the former No. 1 overall pick said. “I might just see how it ends up. It’s on us for that being our reality.

“We had an opportunity to take it. Now we have to leave it in someone else’s hands.”

Both the Bucs and the Panthers will be paying very close attention to the result of the Falcons-Saints outing, which has more at stake than anyone could have imagined only two weeks ago.

Only after time expires in that game can one team start their preparations for the playoffs, whilst the other will be left lamenting over what could have been with their postseason hopes dashed in one of the most brutal ways seen in NFL history.

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