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The Carolina Panthers triumphed in what was one of the franchise’s most consequential games in the past 10 years, and there was a lot of credit to go around.
Quarterback Bryce Young came up big. Receivers Jalen Coker and Tetairoa McMillan did, too. Rookie safety Lathan Ransom hauled in an interception with less than a minute left in the game — sealing the 23-20 win and redeeming himself after a costly, last-minute penalty against the Saints a week ago.
But there was one entity that kept getting props in the postgame locker room.
And they got brought up … colorfully.
“Shoutout to the fans,” defensive lineman Derrick Brown said postgame. “S— was rockin’ in here today. So shoutout to the fans, and don’t be afraid to travel in a few weeks.”
It’s without question that the Carolina Panthers’ fan base loomed large in the team’s massive win — all 73,000-plus of them. Panthers players gushed about the crowd’s strength. Bucs players acknowledged the crowd’s disruptiveness. Coaches on both sides couldn’t escape the fact that the noise played a role in the game’s result.
And the loudest contest of the season couldn’t have come at a better time: The Panthers now continue to control their own destiny as they push for their first playoff bid since 2017 — and now they just need to beat the Bucs in Week 18, or some other permutation Week 17, to make their postseason position permanent.
Everything set the table for a great crowd. It was clear and sunny at kickoff, a welcomed 58-degree December day in Charlotte. North Carolina legendary rapper Petey Pablo showed up at the official Roaring Riot tailgate. There was a pregame flyover. Active offensive lineman Austin Corbett boomed the Keep Pounding drum before the game, and legendary tight end Greg Olsen crushed the drum right before the fourth quarter.
It all stoked a beautifully boisterous flame in Charlotte, head coach Dave Canales said.
“Bank of America Stadium was a special place today,” Canales said. “Black towels waving, all-black uniforms, the whole thing. It felt right. It felt exactly right.
“It was an advantage. There were some false starts. There were some issues with communication. We can see where they were having trouble getting the calls in, getting lined up — that’s our fan base. That’s showing up.”
Canales continued saying “it really does take all of us, and those are the little advantages and edges that we need. I’m so fortunate to be able to be here, and to feel that type of energy in the building. And then when we make big plays, they let you hear it. The guys feed off that. So there was an amazing, electric feel today in the stadium.”
How, exactly, did the fans impact the Bucs? Take it from them
Officially, the Bucs had eight penalties that yielded 56 yards. Three were false starts. One was a delay of game. And that showing is statistically uncharacteristic for the Bucs — a team that coming into Sunday was among the Top 5 least-penalized teams in the NFL, averaging 5.4 a game, according to Team Rankings.
“It’s self-inflicted, and it’s a different kind of focus between penalties and a different kind of focus between MEs (mental errors),” Bucs head coach Todd Bowles told reporters postgame.
Added offensive lineman Luke Goedeke, who was called for two of the team’s three false starts, on what provoked the penalties: “Noise — not on the same page. Multiple things attribute to that. I just have to play better personally.”
This crowd might not have been at 2015-season-conference-championship-level volume. But there was undoubtedly something special in the air: an urgency, a joy, an enthusiastic willingness to ride the ups and downs of this delightfully confusing season until its end.
That was everywhere Sunday. It helped Young play through pain. It helped keep the Bucs off balance. It fired up Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield early — as the former Panther QB stomped into the Panthers end zone after a first quarter touchdown — and then helped unravel Mayfield’s offense at the end.
The crowd noise offered a window into how much this team means to this city — a reminder of who this team is playing for.
‘It definitely all plays a part’
Second-year tight end Ja’Tavion Sanders referenced how the crowd caused some Bucs pre-snap errors and then summed it all up nicely.
“Imagine if they didn’t get them,” Sanders said of Tampa Bay’s penalties. “They would probably have gotten the first down in that drive or something. So it definitely all plays a part.”
But the Panthers don’t have to imagine. The fans took care of it.
This story was originally published December 22, 2025 at 6:00 AM.
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Alex Zietlow
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