CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Thanks to a mechanical failure, a new airplane had to be flown in by Delta. The seven-hour delay in Tampa turned one of the Bucs' shorter road trips into the longest of the season, ending just before midnight Saturday.
Of course, any landing you can walk away from is a good one. The same could be said for the Bucs' 46-23 win over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.
They needed a win — any win — to erase the stain of the 46-23 massacre they suffered against the Saints last Sunday night. It took a little longer than expected, but by the time Ronald Jones set a franchise record with his 98-yard touchdown run — his first of two scores against the Panthers — the Bucs were right back on schedule.
Quarterback Tom Brady threw for 341 yards with touchdown passes to Cameron Brate, Mike Evans and Rob Gronkowski, and the Bucs scored on nine straight possessions.
And darned if the Bucs offensive line didn't obey the pre-flight command: please return your quarterback to his upright position. Following an offensive line shuffle, Brady was sacked only once Sunday and looked comfortable in the pocket all day.
Brady was sharp from the start, distributing the ball to eight receivers in the first half. He threw touchdowns to Brate and Evans, the second of which tied the score at halftime, 17-17.
The big difference early on was a fumble by Jones, which set up the Panthers' first touchdown. He atoned for it in the second half, taking a handoff from Brady at the Bucs' 2-yard line, then after making Panthers' safety Tre Boston miss, out-raced linebacker Jeremy Chinn to the end zone.
On the next series, linebacker Jason Pierre-Paul intercepted a pass from Teddy Bridgewater to set up another of Ryan Succop's four field goals.
The Bucs trailed 14-7 and 17-10 until Brady made some spectacular throws on that final drive before halftime. Needing a big play on second down from midfield, he dropped a pass in the seam to Gronkowski, who broke a tackle and rumbled for 44 yards to the Carolina 4-yard line.
Evans' touchdown tied it but the Panthers almost went to the locker room with the lead.
Bridgewater connected with D.J. Moore on an apparent 42-yard pass play. When Mike Edwards was flagged for delay of game after pinning Moore to the turf, the Panthers had the ball at the Tampa Bay 28-yard line.
But a booth instant replay review during a Bucs timeout determined that Moore did not maintain possession when he went to the ground and it was reversed.
The Bucs took the lead on Succop's 24-yard field goal to cap the first possession of the second half.
With Ali Marpet missing his second game with a concussion, the Bucs shuffled their offensive line again. A.Q Shipley started at center and center Ryan Jensen moved to Marpet's left guard spot, replacing Joe Haeg, who started last week against the Saints.
