Buccaneers Week 17 Top Performers vs. Carolina Panthers

The Bucs take care of business on all fronts.

If there’s one element of that defines the 2024 Buccaneers, it’s definitely resilience.

After a stifling setback at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys in primetime last week, the Bucs bounced back yet again with a crushing 48-14 victory over the Carolina Panthers to keep their season alive headed into the final week.

The offense continuously pummeled the Panthers from start to finish, with Baker Mayfield completely locked in and Bucky Irving achieving a milestone feat. The defense, despite its usual deficiencies, did well enough to let the offense leg out a huge lead and lean on what it does best: blitz.

Another dilapidated NFC South foe awaits Tampa in what could be a win that clinches the fourth straight division title, but that will come down to the result between the Washington Commanders and Atlanta Falcons.

Let’s do some penultimate regular-season shout-outs.

Offensive Top Performer: QB Baker Mayfield and RB Bucky Irving

Both of these guys deserve full top performer status.

For Mayfield, he threw a season-high 5 touchdowns and 359 yards on 27-of-32 passing. Surgically dismantling a practice squad defense is what a good quarterback should do, and it was a welcome bounce-back after largely floundering against the Cowboys. Mayfield performed especially well against the blitz, throwing all of his touchdowns while facing extra pressure.

The near-flawless performance also helped Mayfield set career-highs in passing yards (4,279) and touchdowns (39) in a single season as his post-Browns/Panthers/Rams career continues to flourish.

Meanwhile, Bucky Irving started off fast and charged his way into Bucs’ history as the first 1,000-yard rusher since Doug Martin in 2015 and first 1,000-yard rookie since 2012 (also Martin). He tallied his third 100-yard rushing game of the season as he rushed 20 times for 113 yards and added 4 catches for 77 yards. It was the third time he eclipsed 140+ yards from scrimmage.

Irving has seized complete command of the team’s primary running back role (Rachaad White received just 7 touches for 36 yards) and looks like a star in the making.

Fellow rookie Jalen McMillan continued to stand out with his late-year run, scoring two more touchdowns to bring it up to 6 times in the last 4 games and 7 total in 2024. He totaled 5 catches for 51 yards, as well as one carry for 9 yards. His emergence has helped take the heat off Mike Evans immensely, who continued his quest to 1,000 yards with 8 grabs for 97 yards and two scores of his own.

No. 13 now has 11 touchdowns this year despite missing three games, and it marks the sixth time he’s scored double-digit touchdowns in a season — he’s just the seventh player to do this NFL history, the others being Randy Moss, Jerry Rice, Terrell Owens, Marvin Harrison Sr, Chris Carter, and Davante Adams. Pretty good.

Defensive Top Performer: DT Calijah Kancey

There’s always so many more praises to sing for the offense over the defense, but the latter did its job well enough Sunday.

Kancey led the pass rush with another sack, bringing his season total to a team-leading 7.5 in just 10 games this year. He’s been a menace since getting healthy, and it sure looks like he’ll be good for 10+ sacks a year in the future if he can put together a full year of work — keep those calves strong, young man.

The pass rush overall did well, recording 5 sacks total. Anthony Nelson, Yaya Diaby, Logan Hall, and Chris Braswell all got in on the action to keep Bryce Young in control. If this team makes the playoffs, they will need performances like this every game.

Special Teams Top Performer: LB J.J. Russell

Hey, someone who isn’t the kicker did something!

With some possible assistance from a duck — no, not Bucky Irving — the Bucs logged their first blocked punt in 4 years and first touchdown off a blocked punt since 2012. Joe Tryon-Shoyinka got his hands on the kick, while J.J. Russell stormed 23 yards into the endzone as a thunderous “Ducky, Ducky, Ducky” chant broke out amongst the Krewe.

The Ducky game will go down in history.