TAMPA, Fla. -- Despite Sunday night's Atlanta Falcons-Washington Commanders game having huge implications for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers -- they needed a Falcons loss to move back into first place in the NFC South -- Bucs coach Todd Bowles said he fell asleep.
"I was actually asleep but I saw the results this morning and I'm good," Bowles said Monday. "I saw the highlights and everything this morning."
The Bucs defeated the Carolina Panthers 48-14 in a 1 p.m. ET game to improve to 9-7. But they had to wait until late that night to learn where they stood in the division standings, as the Falcons-Commanders game didn't kick off until 8:20 p.m. The Commanders won 30-24 in overtime on "Sunday Night Football," dropping the Falcons to 8-8.
That means that the Bucs are back in the driver's seat for the playoffs, if they can defeat the New Orleans Saints at home on Sunday. Otherwise, they'd need the Falcons to lose to the Panthers.
"[We're] very fortunate," said Bowles, who had two separate stints with Washington as a player (from 1986 to 1990 and from 1992 to 1993) and was a member of the Super Bowl XXII team. "It was a good ballgame, went back and forth, but to have a chance to control our own destiny is all we can ask for, so we have to go out and take it."
A Week 16 loss to the Dallas Cowboys had bumped the Bucs out of first place. They were tied with Atlanta in the standings at the time, but the Falcons hold the tiebreaker after sweeping the Bucs in the season series.
Bowles wasn't the only Buccaneer who went to sleep. Star rookie running back Bucky Irving, who reached the 1,000-yard rushing threshold Sunday, said he planned to get some shuteye, too.
For those players and coaches who did watch, like quarterback Baker Mayfield -- who told CBS after the game, "Big Jayden Daniels fan tonight" -- it was quite the nail-biter. The Daniels and the Commanders jumped out to a 7-0 lead, but fell behind late in the second quarter and didn't retake the lead until early in the fourth, when Chris Rodriguez Jr. slipped multiple tackles for a 2-yard rushing touchdown to make it 21-17. Zane Gonzalez then hit a 31-yard field goal with 4:32 remaining to make it a seven-point margin.
But Falcons rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr. connected with tight end Kyle Pitts on fourth-and-goal for a 13-yard touchdown to even the score with 1:19 left. Atlanta had a chance to win in regulation, but kicker Riley Patterson's 56-yard field goal attempt fell short as time expired.
The Commanders won the coin toss, and Daniels found tight end Zach Ertz on an in-route for a 2-yard touchdown, sending the Commanders (11-5) to the postseason for the first time since 2020. Their 11 wins are the most for the franchise since going 14-2 in 1991.
The Bucs' X account immediately posted a photo of Mayfield hugging Daniels after their Week 1 matchup, along with a handshake emoji. The Bucs defeated the Commanders 37-20 in that game, Daniels' NFL debut.