Looks like Bucs fans will have another NFC South quarterback to fear for a long time. Imagine being a team that has to face Matt Ryan and Drew Brees a total of four times every season. Everyone would cringe at the thought. Now throw in the beastly physical specimen that is Cam Newton. The result is a divisional schedule that just became a living nightmare.

Newton and the Panthers put on an absolute clinic in Tampa on Sunday with a 38-19 victory. This would have been a great matchup of two young, athletic quarterbacks going at it, however Josh Freeman was unable to start for the Bucs. He injured his throwing shoulder on the final play of last week’s loss at Tennessee.

Making his fifth career start and taking his place was quarterback Josh Johnson. Johnson had an overall decent day against the Carolina defense. The third year quarterback from San Diego went 16-27, throwing one touchdown on 229 yards passing. He also added 45 yards on the ground. His only glaring mistake came on the first drive of the third quarter.

He was not prepared for the shotgun snap, causing a rushed throw and interception. The day belonged to Cam Newton, however. The number one overall pick in this year’s draft had four total touchdowns. Three of the scores came with his feet, and the final one made history. With a two yard touchdown run in the third quarter, Newton set the all-time record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback with 13.

He passed former Patriots quarterback Steve Grogan in just the 12^th game of his career. Newton was proud of the accomplishment, but would not take all of the praise for himself.“It does mean something to me. I’m not going to sit up here and say it doesn’t mean something. I’m not focusing on individualism in this game.

It’s still 11-on-11. I don’t think I could’ve done anything without those other 10 guys, most importantly the five guys who are blocking their tails off each and every snap.” His first touchdown came on the game’s opening drive, which went 83 yards on seven plays. He concluded it with a high leap across the goal line on 2^nd and goal from the one.

Carolina took a 14-0 lead after Jonathan Stewart had his own one yard touchdown run, which was set up on a 27 yard catch and run by Newton on a double pass. Stewart led the team in rushing with 80 yards on 14 carries. LeGarrette Blount, in contrast, had a miserable day with just 19 yards on 11 attempts for the Bucs.

While the Panthers were getting into the end zone, the Bucs were continuously settling for field goals until it was too late. It was a one possession game after the lead was cut to 14-6, but Newton quickly changed that. He went on to lead an 80 yard drive that concluded with a laser 19 yard touchdown pass to receiver Legedu Naanee.

The drive was Carolina’s 17^th of the season that went at least 80 yards and resulted in a touchdown – the most in the NFL. The Bucs added two more field goals to the Panthers’ one to make the score at halftime 24-12. Newton continued to dominate and added his final two rushing touchdowns in the second half. Meanwhile, Johnson and the Bucs were unable to score anything other than a late touchdown by Dezmon Briscoe.

On a day where Cam Newton did a lot of scoring with his legs, his arm also accounted for 204 yards on 12-21 passing. He continues to develop as a serious matchup problem for opponents on a weekly basis. While the future seems bright in Carolina, things just continue to fall apart for Tampa Bay after a promising 4-2 start. The Bucs suffered their sixth straight loss after falling to the Panthers, and coach Raheem Morris did not hide his frustration following the game.

“I can take getting beat by a better football team. I wish they were. The foolish things that happened in that game, as far as penalties, some of the things that we caused, are just unacceptable. We are not playing like a smart football team right now.” With no realistic shot at the playoffs, the Bucs are left with nothing to play for now except pride and respect.

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The Tampa Buccaneers (4-7) season ended in Nashville on Sunday after the Titans (6-5), behind a mammoth performance from running back Chris Johnson, had a fourth quarter comeback victory. The score was 23-17. Although running back LeGarrette Blount had 103 yards on 20 carries and Josh Freeman’s 199 yards and one touchdown pass on 18-33 passing were not enough to hold off the Titans in the game’s final minutes.

The game was a final stand for Tampa, who has completely fallen out of the NFC playoff race after its fifth straight loss following a 4-2 start. Bucs fans had a tough time swallowing this one, as they saw a 17-10 fourth quarter lead become a distant memory.

A 52-yard field goal from Titans’ kicker Rob Bironas cut the deficit to 17-13 at the beginning of the final period, but Tampa still appeared poised to end the game on the next drive with a touchdown. After starting at their own 20-yard line, Tampa’s penalties pushed them back into a 1st and 25 situation back near midfield. The offense was unable to make up the lost yardage, and was forced to punt.

The game was then put into the hands of the defense. With just 7:15 remaining they still had an excellent opportunity to preserve the lead and allow the offense to win the game. But Johnson, who ran for a season high 190 yards on 23 carries, put the Titans into excellent scoring position with a 34-yard run to the Tampa Bay 25 after back to back first down throws by Matthew Hasselbeck to open the drive, which began back at the Tennessee 20-yard line.

The Bucs were able to stop the Titans on 3rd and goal from the five after tackling Johnson at the 2-yard line, but needed one more stop, as Tennessee elected to go for it on the 4th down with only a few minutes remaining and trailing by four. Hasselbeck rolled right and threw back towards the middle of the end zone to receiver Damian Williams for the touchdown, giving the Titans a 20-17 lead.

Freeman, who has 2 game-winning drives this season, and a total of nine in his three seasons as the Bucs’ quarterback, aimed to lead his team on another, but was intercepted by linebacker Colin McCarthy at the Tampa Bay 47-yard line. Turnovers was the name of the game for both teams throughout the day due to the cold, rainy conditions.

Each side struggled to take care of the football and there was a total of eight fumbles and three interceptions. There was even a stretch of six plays in the 3rd quarter where the teams combined for three turnovers. “Looking back, we had our timeouts and we had plenty of time. It would have been fairly routine for us to drive down, but the turnover made things difficult.

That’s something that at that point just can’t happen,” said Freeman about the late interception. The Bucs’ defense could have easily lost all hope after Johnson’s second carry of that next drive went to the Tampa 21-yard line leading up to the two minute warning, but they still fought hard and allowed only a field goal with 1:44 remaining.

Freeman would have one more opportunity to win the game trailing 23-17. It only took three plays to move the ball from his own 20 to the Titans’ 34 and things certainly looked promising. However, the Bucs found themselves at the 4-yard line, and were unable to convert after Freeman fumbled on the quarterback sneak attempt, recovered, and was stopped at 26 yards.

The turnover  led to thoughts of the 2012 season for the Bucs faithful. Titans fans, however, kept their postseason hopes alive. “We knew that this was a do-or-die situation, a critical situation,” said Hasselbeck.

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The Chicago Bears (4-3) posted a hard-fought 24-18 victory over elected home side Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-3) in the 5^th NFL International Series at Wembley, London.

The Bucs (who played at Wembley as recently as 2009, when they took on the New England Patriots) were welcomed to the field with rapturous applause as tight end Kellen Winslow Jr ran out onto the ‘hallowed turf’ bearing the Union Jack. The Bears, who played at Wembley 25 years ago in the inaugural American Bowl, were enjoying a large amount of support, with a significant contingent of the near 77,000 crowd seemingly Chicago fans.

The game started with a 3 and out from the Bears offence, and they looked as if the occasion, likened to a Superbowl in atmosphere by Hall of Famers Marshall Faulk and Richard Dent, may have unnerved them somewhat. If they were slightly overawed, they soon overcame it, and the league leading Matt Forte, who has 908 yards rushing already this season, ran in a 32-yard TD to give the Bears the lead.

Forte went on to enjoy a monster performance in London, rushing for 145 yards on just 25 carries. An injury to running back Earnest Graham sent things from bad to worse for the Bucs, leaving only the inexperienced Kregg Lumpkin active. Veteran cornerback Ronde Barber did pull back two points for the Bucs when he tackled Forte in the endzone for a safety.

The much maligned Chicago offensive line, who had given up 19 sacks on Jay Cutler so far this season, put in a strong performance, allowing Cutler to find Roy Williams on the 25-yard TD pass in the second quarter. Although Cutler was being given better protection than he has had all season, the story of the game was the Bears work running the football.

Marion Barber collected the 50^th rushing TD of his career as he powered into the endzone from 12 yards out. The Bears were then close to adding to their lead when Lance Briggs intercepted on Freeman’s first pass after the Barber TD and, despite the linebacker taking the ball all the way to the endzone, a Chicago player was called for a push in the back, and Briggs’s celebrations were cut short.

The game was brought back to life early in the fourth quarter as Winsow collected a TD pass, and although Freeman, who coincidentally made his first ever NFL appearance at Wembley two years previously, failed to find Mike Williams for the extra two, and the Bucs were looking a threat in the deep for the first time in the game.

A fourth quarter comeback continued to look on the cards as Freeman, who was showing a composure in the fourth that he had lacked throughout the game, found Dezmon Briscoe for the 24-yard TD and the Bucs kicked the extra point to cut the Bears lead to three points.

The Bears then kicked a field goal to establish a six point lead, and with less than two minutes left in the game, the Bucs began a drive on their own 28 yard line. Although they looked dangerous, recording consecutive first downs, D.J. Moore grabbed an interception with around a minute to play to effectively end the game.

The Bears will fly home hoping that their offensive line has turned a corner, with good performances against both the Vikings and now the Bucs, and that Forte can carry on running the ball with the same effectiveness that has seen him lead the NFL in rushing yards so far this season.

Head Coach Raheem Morris and the Bucs will be disappointed that they could not complete their fourth quarter comeback, but cannot be too aggrieved, as Tampa Bay did not turn up in their first three quarters.

They leave London in better spirits than two years ago, when they were on the end of a 35-7 demolition by the Patriots, and Morris will see a lot of potential on his side as they head into their bye-week.

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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-2) welcomed the New Orleans Saints (4-1) to the Raymond James Stadium, hoping to improve their record before they jet off to London to entertain the NFL’s UK-based fans next week.

Having collected impressive victories over the likes of the Atlanta Falcons so far this season, the Bucs were keen to keep their win percentage over the 500 mark, despite having fallen to a franchise record defeat to the San Francisco 49’ers last week. Standing in their way however, was an in-form Drew Brees and his Saints were not going to be pushovers, as their impressive record so far shows.

With LeGarrette Blount sidelined through injury, the Buccaneers turned to Earnest Graham, but the running back failed to make much of an impression with his early rushes. The Bucs did however grab the lead when the Saints turned over possession, and the home side kicked a field-goal after failing to convert a 3^rd down.

The lead was to be short-lived however, with Brees finding tight end Jimmy Graham for a 16-yard gain, giving the Saints great field position, and also furthering Graham’s lead at the top of the tight end reception table in the NFL. From here, wide receiver Marques Colston collected a 38-yard TD pass from Brees, putting the visitors into the lead for the first time.

The lead changed hands again early in the 2^nd quarter however, when Bucs quarterback Josh Freeman found Arrelious Benn, who had escaped the man coverage, for a 65–yard TD pass, the longest for the Bucs since 2008.

The Bucs continued to press home their advantage, with Graham rushing for big gains consistently on a drive which culminated in a field goal, extending their lead to six points. Meanwhile, the Saints continued to struggle to get their offense going, and when the Bucs regained possession, they worked their way down the field before Freeman found Preston Parker on the slant route for a 19-yard TD pass.

The Saints came close to striking back just before the interval, having started on their own 2-yard line, but Brees passed successfully to Graham for 43 yards, and then to Colston for 37 yards, but had to settle for three points with a field goal as time ran out.

The 3^rd quarter went by fairly uneventfully for both sides, with neither side truly threatening the opposition end-zone, until the Saints moved to within 10 yards of the Bucs end-zone with just three minutes left in the quarter. Unfortunately for Sean Peyton’s side though, the Tampa Bay defense were more than a match for the New Orleans offense, and limited them to the field goal.

This did however make it a one-possession game heading into the 4^th,, until the Buccaneers struck back quickly, kicking a field goal themselves, and re-establishing the 10-point lead. The Saints soon closed the gap on the Bucs once the 4^th quarter started, driving to Tampa Bay’s 12 yard line, which then allowed explosive rookie Mark Ingram to power into the end-zone, reducing the lead to just three points.

With time running down in the 4^th, and the Bucs having added three more points to their lead, Brees was moving them Saints offense down the pitch, taking them to the Bucs 4 yard line. The usually infallible Brees then threw an interception in the Bucs end-zone, with Quincy Black picking the ball, and allowing Tampa Bay to run the ball away, with the game finishing at 26-20 to the Bucs.

Raheem Morris will be thrilled with his team’s effort and performance last night, especially that of his defense, who made life extremely difficult for Brees.

The Saints will not be entirely disheartened however, with tight end Graham collecting over 100 receiving yards for the fourth game in the row, and really establishing himself as a danger-man for the Saints, as they hope to bounce back this week, and continue their march towards the playoffs.

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