Buccaneers vs. Panthers: Score and Twitter Reaction for Monday Night Football

It was a rough day for Tampa Bay Buccaneers kicker Roberto Aguayo, but the rookie got his redemption when it mattered, knocking in a 38-yard field goal as time expired to earn a 17-14 win over the Carolina Panthers on Monday.

The second-round pick was 1-of-3 on the season coming into the day and 2-of-4 in Monday's contest heading into his game-winning attempt. Still, Aguayo came through in the clutch to sink the defending NFC champions.

The NFL shared the replay:

Carolina turned to Derek Anderson at quarterback with Cam Newton sidelined with a concussion. While the veteran threw for 278 yards, he also had two interceptions and lost a fumble in an up-and-down day.

Tight end Greg Olsen was the biggest star for Carolina, recording nine catches for 181 yards. Second-year running back Cameron Artis-Payne also had an impressive day with 85 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

But a minus-four finish in the turnover battle and seven penalties contributed to the divisional loss for Carolina.

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

Signal-caller Jameis Winston didn't light up the stat sheet for Tampa Bay, throwing for 219 yards and a touchdown, but Jacquizz Rodgers had a strong first start with the team, finishing with 101 rushing yards on 30 carries.

With the defense coming through with big plays, it was enough to secure the victory.

A game featuring plenty of backups on both sides was unsurprisingly a low-scoring affair.

The Buccaneers decided to challenge the opposing defensive line, getting the ball to Rodgers as much as possible. NFL Research noted how much the team relied on its third-string running back:

Considering he had just 13 rushing attempts coming into the game and 14 in all of 2015, this was quite a workload.

Tampa Bay continued to take advantage of a Panthers defensive line that was supposed to be the team's strength, confusing Louis Riddick of ESPN:

Despite holding possession for more than 13 minutes in the first quarter, though, the Bucs continued to hurt themselves, as Will Brinson of CBS Sports detailed:

Turnovers, poor work in the red zone and a missed field goal from each team led to just a 6-0 score in favor of Tampa Bay at halftime.

While the Buccaneers were in control for the entire first half, it took only one possession in the second half for the Panthers to take the lead. Artis-Payne punched it in on 4th-and-goal from the 1-yard line, capping an 11-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that helped Carolina seize a 7-6 lead.

ESPN.com's Matt Bowen praised the home team's play-calling:

A roughing-the-kicker penalty helped the Panthers get back into the end zone on their next drive. Once again, it was Artis-Payne with the score, this time getting to the edge on a 12-yard run.

However, Tampa Bay answered. It took only four plays before Winston connected with Mike Evans in the end zone, as the NFL shared:

A two-point conversion tied the game at 14, which stood until the closing seconds. Carolina had a chance to take the lead in the fourth quarter with the ball at the 1-yard line, but Anderson threw an interception in the end zone for the team's fourth turnover of the game.

The Buccaneers then had a chance to take the lead with a field goal, but Aguayo missed for the second time in the game. Michael Fabiano of NFL.com noted the potential outcome of the rookie's problems:

Sure enough, the pressure was on a few minutes later as Tampa Bay asked Aguayo to make the game-winning kick. This time, he knocked it right down the middle to give the Buccaneers their second win of the season.

Jason Cole of Bleacher Report was one of many who were rooting for the rookie to turn it around:

Carolina will try to get on track with a road game against the 1-3 New Orleans Saints in Week 6. The team will hope Newton is able to play Sunday.

Tampa Bay will enjoy its bye week before an Oct. 23 matchup against a 1-4 San Francisco 49ers squad that has lost four games in a row.

Both the 1-4 Panthers and 2-3 Bucs have a long way to go to catch the 4-1 Atlanta Falcons in the NFC South.

Postgame Reaction

There was not a lot of confidence on the Buccaneers' sideline heading into the last kick, per Paul Ryan of WFLA:

While head coach Dirk Koetter remained nervous, Aguayo was happy to get another chance.

"It meant the world. With the way the game played out, there were a couple of kicks I missed," Aguayo told ESPN's Lisa Salters after the game, via Brinson. "Especially that one, that was a hard one to come back and get it through. At the end of the day, you've got to go back and go to fundamentals."

The rookie will hope he can build off the latest success and justify his draft position.

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