CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Baker Mayfield and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are looking to make a run at their fourth straight NFC South championship.
Former offensive coordinator Dave Canales stands in the way.
The Buccaneers (5-6) trail the Atlanta Falcons by one game in the NFL's weakest division entering Sunday’s showdown with the Carolina Panthers (3-8), who hired Canales away from Tampa Bay as head coach after he helped resurrect Mayfield’s career last season.
“Dave, being the optimist bully that he is, just always ‘the sun is going to shine again’ and has that belief in the next play,” Mayfield said. “It was weird. It was rare that you see a coach that actually embodied that ‘next play is the most important one’ we’re-never-out-of-the-fight type mentality. He took that literal, day to day, so it was a different kind of energy than I think anybody had been around but it was good for everybody."
The Buccaneers are coming off a 30-7 rout of the New York Giants and now have star wide receiver Mike Evans back on the field, which will help the passing game. The Bucs lost their other top wide receiver, Chris Godwin, to a season-ending dislocated left ankle earlier this year.
Mayfield, who played for the Panthers in 2022 before being released midseason, led the Bucs to a series sweep of Carolina last year.
The Panthers hired Canales in part to develop young QB Bryce Young.
He benched Young two weeks into the season but the 2023 No. 1 NFL pick regained the starting job after veteran Andy Dalton went down with a thumb injury and has played much better since. The Panthers won back-to-back games and last Sunday took the two-time Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs to the wire before losing 30-27.
Canales still hasn't committed to Young as the team's long-term solution at quarterback, but has been encouraged by his progress in recent weeks.
“Just the progress that we’re looking for as he continues to earn these moments, then, yeah, he’ll be in there,” Canales said. “And that’s what I’ve been most excited about is, is that there’s weekly growth that’s happening. And so, we’re just taking it a week at a time. I know that’s been my language, but he’s really taking responsibility for it and pushing us that way.
“And so, the bottom line is, he’s giving us a chance to win.”
The Bucs statistically have faced the most difficult schedule in the NFL entering Week 13, with eight of 11 the games they’ve played featuring opponents currently sporting a winning record.
Last week, however, began a seven-week stretch in which Tampa Bay will only play one game (at Los Angeles Chargers) against a team currently sitting above .500. The Bucs will face the Panthers (3-8) twice over that span.
While the Giants' win created some momentum, players say they aren’t making any assumptions about this week or beyond.
“Now, we’ve just got to build on it,” Mayfield said, reiterating the single-game approach it will take to be successful down the stretch.
There are no moral victories in the NFL, but Carolina’s last-second close loss to the Chiefs has clearly helped a young team’s confidence after battling back from 11 points down in the fourth quarter to tie the game.
“Guys are starting to buy into what coach Canales has brought to this team,” Panthers wide receiver Adam Thielen said. “There is a standard that is being set and guys know we are never out of it. Guys know that if they keep pushing and keep fighting we are never out of it.”
One of the reasons the Bucs are optimistic about their chances of reaching the playoffs for a fifth straight season is the emergence of a productive running game.
Tampa Bay has rushed for 100-plus yards in eight of 11 games this year after only doing it nine times in 32 games over the past two seasons. At 128.1 yards per game, the Bucs are 10th in the league in rushing after finishing last in 2022 and 2023.
The Panthers have relied heavily on rookie pass catchers this season, but will be without both tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders and Jalen Coker on Sunday because of injuries.
Sanders was emerging as a solid weapon in the passing game for the Panthers, and his injury leaves the Panthers without much of a receiving threat at tight end. That means Young could look more to running back Chuba Hubbard and rookie Jonathon Brooks as outlets on passing plays.
The team's other rookie wide receiver, Xavier Legette, continues to be a contributor of offense, and has played particularly well at home.
The Panthers are looking to avoid their seventh straight losing season with a defeat. Carolina has not been to the playoffs since David Tepper purchased the team from founder Jerry Richardson in 2018.
AP Sports Writer Fred Goodall contributed to this report.
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Carolina Panthers running back Chuba Hubbard (30) leaves the field after an NFL football game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans warms up before an NFL football game against the New York Giants Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Rich Schultz)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) celebrates his touchdown run against the New York Giants during the first half of an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Rich Schultz)
Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales reacts to play against the Kansas City Chiefs during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Jacob Kupferman)
TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Thousands of demonstrators protesting the Georgian government's decision to suspend negotiations to join the European Union rallied outside the parliament and clashed with police outside parliament for a second straight night on Friday.
The night before, police used water cannons, pepper spray and tear gas to disperse protesters who took to the streets in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, after Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze of the ruling Georgian Dream party announced the suspension. The interior ministry said it detained 43 people during the protests.
On Friday evening, protesters again swarmed the parliament, with some trying to break the metal gates to the building. Riot police used water cannons to drive them back and later moved to push some of the demonstrators away from the area.
Georgian Dream's disputed victory in the Oct. 26 election, which was widely seen as a referendum on the country’s aspirations to join the European Union, has sparked massive demonstrations and led to an opposition boycott of the parliament. The opposition said the vote was rigged under the influence of Russia seeking to keep Georgia in its orbit.
President Salome Zourabichvili joined protesters on Thursday after accusing the government of declaring “war” on its own people. In Friday's address to the nation, Zourabichvili urged police not to use force against protesters.
The Georgian president, who has a largely ceremonial role, has declared that the ruling party rigged the election with the help of Russia, Georgia's former imperial master.
The government's announcement that it was suspending negotiations to join the EU came hours after the European Parliament adopted a resolution that condemned last month’s vote as neither free nor fair, representing yet another manifestation of the continued democratic backsliding “for which the ruling Georgian Dream party is fully responsible.”
European election observers said October's vote took place in a divisive atmosphere marked by instances of bribery, double voting and physical violence.
The EU granted Georgia candidate status in December 2023 on condition that it meet the bloc’s recommendations, but put its accession on hold and cut financial support earlier this year after the passage of a “foreign influence” law widely seen as a blow to democratic freedoms.
EU lawmakers urged for a rerun of the parliamentary vote within a year under thorough international supervision and by an independent election administration. They also called on the EU to impose sanctions and limit formal contacts with the Georgian government.
The Georgian prime minister fired back, denouncing what he described as a “cascade of insults” from the EU politicians and declaring that “the ill-wishers of our country have turned the European Parliament into a blunt weapon of blackmail against Georgia, which is a great disgrace for the European Union.”
“We will continue on our path toward the European Union; however, we will not allow anyone to keep us in a constant state of blackmail and manipulation, which is utterly disrespectful to our country and society,” Kobakhidze said. “We must clearly show certain European politicians and bureaucrats, who are completely devoid of European values, that they must speak to Georgia with dignity, not through blackmail and insults.”
Kobakhidze also said Georgia would reject any budgetary grants from the EU until the end of 2028.
Critics have accused Georgian Dream — established by Bidzina Ivanishvili, a shadowy billionaire who made his fortune in Russia — of becoming increasingly authoritarian and tilted toward Moscow. The party recently pushed through laws similar to those used by the Kremlin to crack down on freedom of speech and LGBTQ+ rights.
The EU suspended Georgia’s membership application process indefinitely in June, after parliament passed a law requiring organizations that receive more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “pursuing the interest of a foreign power,” similar to a Russian law used to discredit organizations critical of the government.
Protesters pour into the streets following the country's ruling party suspended negotiations to join the European Union until 2028, rallying outside the parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Protesters pour into the streets following the country's ruling party suspended negotiations to join the European Union until 2028, rallying outside the parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Police detain a protester outside the parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
People stand with EU flags following Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze's announcement, rallying outside the parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Paramedics treat a protester after clashes with police as demonstrators poured into the streets following Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze's announcement, rallying outside the parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
A group of protesters move a burning garbage container pouring into the streets following Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze's announcement, rallying outside the parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Police detain a protester outside the parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Protesters pour into the streets following Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze's announcement, rallying outside the parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Police use a water cannon to prevent protesters pouring into the streets following Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze's announcement, rallying outside the parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
Protesters pour into the streets and put fire following Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze's announcement, rallying outside the parliament building in Tbilisi, Georgia, on Friday, Nov. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Zurab Tsertsvadze)
