The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are scoring points in the most unorthodox ways against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.
The Bucs led the Panthers convincingly with a 33-6 lead at halftime and 8 of their points came in freakish fashion.
The freakish fashion?
A defensive two-point conversion by cornerback Zyon McCullom.
A big-man touchdown fumble return by 280-pound defensive tackle Calijah Kancey.
Not typical.
Let’s begin with the Kancey score first. The Bucs have so far smothered the Panthers’ offense and evidence of that was Al-Quadin Muhammad’s strip-sack of Carolina quarterback Bryce Young.
Well, if you got a strip, you’ve got a loose football and Kancey scooped up the loose ball on a bounce, outran an offensive lineman 32 yards to the end zone and completed the score by performing a flip over the goal line.
None of that is typical big man behavior.
This is dream-of-a-lifetime stuff for any defensive player. It’s practically unheard of for a defensive lineman.
And, interestingly, Kancey’s rare moment was not the most unorthodox of this game for the Bucs.
We present McCollum’s two-pointer.
The Panthers had cut the deficit with a 50-yard hookup between Young and tight end Darren Waller. That cut Tampa Bay’s lead to 17-6.
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But on the ensuing extra point, McCullom snatched a blocked extra point out of the air and returned it for, well, a conversion for the Bucs.
Two points.
Zany.
McCollum, by the way, is having a day. He also intercepted Young later in the first half.
The Bucs are in last place in the NFC South with a 1-5 record. But Baker Mayfield started this game after missing the previous three games with a dislocated thumb on his right (throwing) hand.
Mayfield threw a touchdown pass to Tez Johnson to give the Bucs a 33-6 halftime lead. Tampa Bay’s 33 first-half points is the third-most in franchise history and most since 2021.
Thanks, weirdo points.
The Panthers, who have allowed eight points in the most unorthodox way, came into the game leading the NFC South with a 3-2 record.