Panthers Take Step Forward

The Carolina Panthers are one step closer to overcoming a horrendous start and making NFL history.

No team has ever lost seven of its first eight games and rallied to make the playoffs, but the defending NFC champions have a chance after beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 37-20, on Sunday to keep pace with New Orleans for a wild-card berth.

The Panthers (7-8) won for the sixth time in seven games and can earn the last wild-card spot in the NFC by beating the Saints (7-8) at home next week.

“We’ve given ourselves another opportunity next week. We play another division foe at our place and we’ll see how it all settles,” Carolina Coach John Fox said. “These guys have believed all year that it isn’t where you start but where you finish, and we have one more step to get into the next tournament.”

Jake Delhomme threw for 214 yards and four touchdowns, two of them to Muhsin Muhammad, who had his seventh 100-yard game and set single-season Carolina records for yards receiving (1,310) and touchdown catches (14).

Four of the six games the Panthers and Buccaneers have played against each other since the NFC South was formed in 2002 have been decided by seven points or less, including a 21-14 Carolina victory on Nov. 28.

But Delhomme and an opportunistic defense made sure the Panthers’ fourth straight win in the series wouldn’t come down to the wire.

Defensive tackle Kindal Moorehead’s interception and 17-yard return for a touchdown with just under five minutes remaining wiped out any hope for a Tampa Bay comeback and ensured the Panthers would bounce back from a disappointing 34-31 overtime loss at Atlanta the previous week.

Delhomme threw touchdown passes of 15 and six yards to Muhammad and the Panthers blocked a punt to set up a field goal as the first half expired to build a 17-7 lead. Carolina marched 70 yards after the second half kickoff to go up 24-7 on Delhomme’s four-yard touchdown throw to Keary Colbert.

Tampa Bay (5-10) lost for the third straight time since beating NFC South champion Atlanta, 27-0, in a game it hoped would be a springboard for a strong stretch run that would carry it to the playoffs after an 0-4 start.