CHARLOTTE, N.C. _ Sometimes the athletes in the NFL make plays that look like the came from a video game.
The Carolina Panthers made a habit of that on Sunday in a 42-28 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Bank of America Stadium.
Christian McCaffrey's leap of a defender on a 32-yard first-half catch and run qualified. So did Greg Olsen's one-handed touchdown catch.
And then there was Curtis Samuel's touchdown on a reverse, the most video-game worthy of them all.
The Panthers' second-year receiver covered 103.8 yards on his 33-yard weave into the endzone, per NFL Next Gen Stats. That play embodied a team-record 35-point first half that Panthers fans will want to remember.
Then there was that forgettable second half.
Tampa Bay roared back with 21 unanswered points after falling behind 35-7, pulling within a touchdown of tying the game. Carolina stopped the bleeding and held, but not before reminding everyone that games aren't over 'til they're over.
With a Thursday night game in Pittsburgh coming up and a trip to Detroit the week after, this wasn't a game they could afford to lose. Instead, the Panthers established themselves as a team to watch in the NFC, right alongside Los Angeles and New Orleans.
