In a battle for control of the NFC South divisional race, the 7-7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers will hit the road to take on the 7-7 Carolina Panthers. Both of these squads have struggled to find consistency, with Tampa losing five of its last six games and Carolina going 4-4 in its last eight matchups.

Even though the Bucs had a 14-point lead in the fourth quarter of their Week 15 game against the Atlanta Falcons, they still managed to lose, 29-28. Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles strayed from the norm and expressed a lot of anger towards his players during the postgame press conference.

“It's inexcusable,” Bowles said. “You’ve got to f*ckin’ care enough where this sh*t hurts. You’ve got to f*ckin’ care enough where this sh*t hurts. It’s gotta f*ckin’ mean something to you. It's more than a job. It's your f*ckin’ livelihood. How well do you know your job? How well can you do your job? Well, you can't sugarcoat that sh*t. It was ine-f*cking-xcusable, and there's no f*ckin’ answer for it. There’s no excuse for it. That's what you tell them in the locker room. Look in the f*ckin’ mirror.”

It seems like Todd Bowles' rant got the attention of Tampa's players. Three-time All-Pro offensive lineman Tristan Wirfs understood why Bowles was so mad after that loss.

“You should be mad about something like that. You should be upset. I know I was. I mean, I think everyone came in today knowing what we have to do. Just focus on the task at hand," Wirfs told reporters on Monday. "I mean, he was frustrated, obviously. And I know we all were, too. So I think we can see where it was coming from."

One day after his emotional outburst, Bowles said that it's "very frustrating" that his group has failed to develop a killer instinct. However, this time around, he took more responsibility for the Buccaneers' failures.

“You can do it all right in practice all week. You can do it in the game right four out of five times, and on the fifth time, we don't play it right, and that's frustrating,” Bowles said. “That's very frustrating as a coach, very frustrating as a player, I'm sure. But we're all in this together, so it starts with me. I’ve got to do a better job. They’ve got to do a better job, and we have to somehow scratch and claw and find a way to make this thing work.”

The hope in Tampa is that these back-to-back losses will be the catalyst needed for a late-season push that helps the Bucs win the division.

“I hope so because something like that stings, losing two at home to two divisional opponents like that. It should sting,” Wirfs explained. “I hope it just gives everyone a little motivation. Honestly, you’ve just got to get into the dance. Obviously, winning the division and playing at home is big time. I think it did motivate us.”

The Panthers are coming off their own disappointing game, a 20-17 loss to the New Orleans Saints. The Saints kicked a game-winning field goal as time expired after Carolina was flagged for unnecessary roughness, turning the attempt from a 62-yarder into a 47-yarder.

“As far as we're concerned, just the penalties, you know,” said Panthers head coach Dave Canales after the loss. “The penalties is really what killed us and some 3rd and longs that we gave up. You don't give yourself a chance when you're sitting in 1st and 20s and those types of things… We talk about our playstyle, talk about play smart, and finish. That did not show up for us today, and that's something that we certainly have to talk about.”

Carolina hasn’t won back-to-back games since October, alternating between wins and losses over its last seven games. Star cornerback Jaycee Horn said that "execution and focus" are big reasons why the Panthers have struggled to find consistency.

“Like the coaches said, just having the right mindset to execute at winning time,” he told reporters. “I feel like that was a game that we had for three quarters. We were playing dominating football defensively, and - in the last two drives - it got away from us. So, we’ve just got to do better at executing and communicating.”

Even though the Panthers and Buccaneers play each other twice in the final three weeks of the season, Dave Canales is solely focused on this weekend and taking control of the NFC South. He said that the Panthers will win if they just play their brand of football.

"This is the only game that matters for us, and the focus has to be right,” Canales said during a December 15th edition of Panther Talk. “We certainly have to take the lessons of this game against the Saints and make sure that we look at that. Make sure we tie up some of the things that we've been doing well. My message to the team is we've proven to ourselves that when we play good football, we can beat anybody, and that's a true statement for our team. So, let's go play well. Let's go make sure we handle our business, and let's not give the opponent anything, and we'll have a great chance to win this game if we do that.”

Prediction for Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-3) @ Carolina Panthers

Carolina has the ninth-ranked rushing attack in the NFL (1,758 yards) and is going against a Tampa Bay defense that is allowing 4.8 yards per carry over its last three games. The Panthers are also well-equipped to handle a Buccaneers offense that relies heavily on the passing game for success, considering Carolina is 12th in passer rating allowed, while Tampa is 16th in team passer rating. The most interesting thing about the Panthers is that they're at their best when the odds are stacked against them. They're 0-2 as favorites and 7-5 as underdogs this season. As three-point dogs this weekend, I am leaning towards the Panthers to pull off the upset.

Prediction: Panthers 27 - 25 Buccaneers

How to watch Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-3) @ Carolina Panthers

Buccaneers @ Panthers starts at 1:00 p.m. EDT at Bank of America Stadium. You can watch it on Fox or stream it via the Fox Sports app or YouTubeTV.

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