The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost control of their own playoff fate with a Week 16 loss at Dallas on Sunday night, making their Week 17 home game an even more critical game. The Buccaneers will host the 4-11 Carolina Panthers, who have no margin for error in the NFC South title race. Kickoff at Raymond James Stadium is scheduled for Sunday, December 29th at 1:00 p.m. and the game will be broadcast by CBS.

The Buccaneers’ loss to the Cowboys combined with the Atlanta Falcons’ home win over the New York Giants means both teams are 8-7 with two weeks to go, and that’s a problem for Tampa Bay because the Falcons won both straight games have earlier in the season. Practically speaking, that means the Buccaneers will need to win one more game than the Falcons in the final two weeks to secure their fourth straight division title. While the Bucs host the Panthers, the Falcons will travel to Washington to take on the Commanders.

The Buccaneers gained another 411 yards in prime time in Dallas and had a chance to win the game late in the fourth quarter before Rachaad White lost a fumble. The Bucs committed their only two turnovers of the game, both in the second half, allowing Dallas to hold on for the narrow win. Quarterback Baker Mayfield threw for 303 yards and two touchdowns and rookie running back Bucky Irving had another strong performance with 92 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown, but in the end it wasn’t enough.

Carolina is coming off an impressive 36-30 win over the Arizona Cardinals, with quarterback Bryce Young throwing two touchdowns and no interceptions and breakout running back Chuba Hubbard rushing for 152 yards and two scores. This win ended a four-game losing streak for the Panthers, but only one of those losses was by more than six points. That includes a visit by the Buccaneers to Charlotte in Week 13, where a 51-yard field goal by Chase McLaughlin was needed to send the game into overtime before a forced fumble by Anthony Nelson set up the game-tying score.

The Buccaneers have two home games left in the 2024 regular season and will likely need to win both to make the playoffs for the fifth straight season. The Panthers will come to town and try to play spoilsport.