NFC South will be determined by Saints-Falcons game after Buccaneers keep season alive vs Panthers

Greg Jennings and Willie Colon join Danny Parkins to hand out the Week 17 awards, highlighting the most dominant, shocking and surprising performances of the week.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers kept their season alive with a 16-14 win over the Carolina Panthers Saturday. Now the NFC South title will be determined in Sunday's game between the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints, who have long been eliminated from playoff contention. 

Carolina had a chance to clinch the division with a win over Tampa Bay, but now the Panthers must depend on the Falcons to beat the Saints to preserve the division lead using tiebreakers. 

If the Saints win, Tampa Bay will take the division by virtue of the tiebreaker. 

The Buccaneers are hoping for their fifth straight division title, while the Panthers are hoping for their first division title since coach Ron Rivera and quarterback Cam Newton led them to a 15-1 record and a Super Bowl appearance since 2015. Every other team in the NFC South has won the division at least once since Carolina's last division title. 

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Lavonte David (54) of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers celebrates after a fumble recovery against the Carolina Panthers at Raymond James Stadium Jan. 3, 2026, in Tampa, Fla.  (Kevin Sabitus/Getty Images)

Carolina's hope of clinching that title on Saturday ended as Baker Mayfield threw a touchdown pass to Cade Otton and Chase McLaughlin kicked three field goals to earn the two-point win, leaving the Panthers with almost no time to win the game on the game's final series.

After McLaughlin’s 38-yard field goal try was blocked with just over five minutes remaining, Carolina got within 16-14 on Bryce Young’s 8-yard TD pass to Jalen Coker with