“Hey, Todd, Sean Payton would let me play.”

There might be a bit of a showdown at One Buc Palace in the next couple of days. [read more]

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BY IRA KAUFMAN

That conga line inside the Buc locker room says it all.

As Tampa Bay players and coaches filed in after Sunday’s dramatic victory, they were greeted by the Glazer clan. Down the row they went, exchanging high fives, low fives and fist bumps with Bryan, Joel, Avi and Darcie.

There were smiles all around following a massively consequential 30-24 win against the pesky Panthers. Instead of hoping Carolina loses next week at New Orleans, the Bucs can gather their collective breath, knowing they are locked into the NFC’s No. 4 playoff position as division champions.

It didn’t come easy. In fact, there were times when it looked like it wouldn’t come at all as Tampa Bay fell behind 14-0 in the first half and then 21-10 early in the fourth quarter. [read more]

No surprise, but Todd Bowles didn’t look like a man celebrating a division crown after today’s game, his first in five seasons as a head coach.

Like it or not, he’s a chill dude. [read more]

Donovan Smith

Joe poked the Donovan Smith haters on Twitter before today’s game, sort of asking them to admit publicly that they were glad to see Smith return to start after a weeks-long foot injury. [read more]

Point fingers at him, Tom Brady says.

Few people seemed more relieved or happy about Mike Evans blowing up today than Bucs quarterback Tom Brady. [read more]

Monster play.

It wasn’t just the offense that made big plays for the Bucs in their NFC South Division-clinching win over the Stinking Panthers today. [read more]

Crushing blow to Carolina.

When Bucs sacks king Shaq Barrett was lost for the season with a blown Achilles, Joe lamented that teams don’t win Super Bowls after losing their best edge rusher midseason and not replacing him. [read more]

Whale of a game, too.

Joe is giving a special shoutout here for a guy who will be overlooked and was overshadowed by his teammate Mike Evans. [read more]

Canton audition.

This shouldn’t surprise many Bucs fans, but it was a pretty lively scene in the Bucs locker room immediately after the game. [read more]

Congratulations, Todd Bowles. Joe is confident you just locked up a second season as head coach of the Buccaneers. [read more]

Tom Brady.

Yeah, the Hero of the Day for the Bucs was clearly Mike Evans who had 207 yards receiving and three touchdowns. Absolute stud performance. [read more]

Byron Leftwich

Those watching on television today picked up quickly on the message being sent by offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich to the FOX production team. [read more]

UPDATED: 6:15 p.m. — Joe literally has watched this play 10 times and it gets more unbelievable each round.

Rookie punter Jake Camarda might have saved the Bucs’ season with 40 seconds remaining this afternoon. [read more]

Mike Evans said it best after today’s thrilling win against Carolina. It seems the Bucs play best when “our backs are against the wall.” [read more]

Beast!

Wait a minute. Is it 2023 or 2021?

The Buccaneers are NFC South champions after the comeback hammering of the Panthers today at The Licht House.

The offense was unleashed! And it feels so damn good. Damn, an 8-8 record has never felt this delicious. [read more]

OK guys, have at it. It’s win-and-in for the Bucs as they host the Stinking Panthers. Now, remember, please play nice. It’s New Years after all.

Bucs fans won’t see Cameron Brate, Carlton Davis, Carl Nassib, Breshad Perriman or Kyle Trask on the field today against the Panthers. [read more]

Flash poll posted at 12:41 a.m. Poll closed at 8:46 a.m.

Fireable performance.

In large part thanks to very likely the worst job an offensive coordinator has done in the Super Bowl era, the Stinking Panthers have a simple goal. [read more]

Stoked!

There was a spark of excitement in the Bucs’ locker room this week despite the offense being in a slump, despite the Bucs playing down to the level of their opponents and despite all the injuries. [read more]

Can he shock Bucs fans?

Oh, if the Bucs only had an offensive coordinator. [read more]