TAMPA, Fla.— There were a lot of factors in the Panthers' 16-14 loss on Saturday to the Buccaneers. There were missed opportunities on offense, game-wrecking defensive stops, and back-breaking plays.

"We were just so close to getting in or locking it up—we still got a chance—but my mind is just on the missed opps (opportunities)," admitted corner Jaycee Horn. "Not just today but throughout the season, myself included."

The biggest missed opportunities came on third down. Tampa Bay's offense went 8-of-15 on the money down, 53 percent on a day when the Panthers' offense finished 1-of-8 in the same category. The latter half of that stat is a different story. But for the defense, which gave up one touchdown on the opening drive, forced two field goals in the red zone, and intercepted Baker Mayfield, it was the third downs that often made a difference.

"Their tight ends are good players, obviously, and it's a feature for them," said linebacker Christian Rozeboom, particularly in reference to how the Bucs were able to convert many of their third downs. "They have a say in it at the end of the day too, so they're going to take who's open and just got to execute better on some of those things."

After that opening drive, during which Mayfield and crew went nine plays for 74 yards and the score to Cade Otton, coach Dave Canales saw his crew tighten up. Mayfield finished 16-of-22 for 203 yards, the opening touchdown, and the interception. The latter set up the Panthers' first touchdown of the day.

"We didn't play that bad as a defense this game, but just that first drive," said Horn, shaking his head as he thought of it again.

"Every little yard matters, and yeah, just those downs we were supposed to get off the field or whatever—I ain't watch the game or see the stats or anything like that, but as a player you just naturally think all the little stuff that you help to continue to drive or whatever and get them in field goal range."

Too often, Mayfield escaped and found Otton, often on third down, for conversions that swung the game back the Bucs way. After Bryce Young threw an interception with time ticking down in the first half, the Bucs took over with less than two minutes remaining. They were quickly facing a third-and-5 from their own 47-yard line with 0:30 on the clock. A stop would've possibly given Carolina a chance at points once more before half, or at the very least, allowed them to go to the locker room only down three points.

Instead, Mayfield scrambled, defenders chasing him around the field, before he finally flipped the ball as he was being tackled to Otton, who got free for 22 yards. It flipped field position, and Tampa Bay got close enough for a 36-yard field goal that made it 13-7.

"That's definitely in their game a little bit, just the boots and things like that," explained safety Nick Scott. "Unfortunately, we weren't able to take that away. That's something that we understood, that they were really good at, and we tried to make the calls to be able to stop that, but we weren't able to as much as we wanted to.

"We got some third-down stops, but I think Baker just, shout out to him. He did a tremendous job on his feet, extending drives and flipping the field on us. So if there's anything we could have improved on, it would have been the field position battle."

The Panthers challenged a third-down conversion to Otton in the fourth quarter, a ruling that was overturned and helped Carolina force a field goal, which they then blocked. It allowed an ensuing drive for a touchdown, making it 14-16. When the Bucs got the ball back, there was just over two minutes left and a chance to make a stop.

On third-and-4, from their own 35-yard line, with 2:12 remaining, Mayfield and Otton pulled off their magic again, with the quarterback scrambling to find space before getting off to his tight end just in time. The catch went for a gain of 20 yards, inspired a "Who Dat" Saints' cheer to break out in the stands (Tampa Bay needs New Orleans to beat Atlanta to get into the playoffs over the Panthers), and for all intents and purposes, allowed the Bucs to bleed enough time off the clock that Carolina only had 0:18 seconds to win.

"We got to sleep on it tonight," said Horn, "and you know, hope we can still get in tomorrow."