Page "Carolina Panthers" Paragraph 35

Although Carolina first played Tampa Bay in 1995, their rivalry did not start until 2003, when DT Brentson Buckner claimed fellow DT Kris Jenkins was the best defensive tackle in football, angering Tampa Bay DT Warren Sapp.

In their first game since that banter, the Panthers held a 9-3 lead in Tampa late in the fourth quarter, when QB Brad Johnson hit WR Keenan McCardell in the back of the end zone for a touchdown.

All that remained was for the Buccaneers to kick an extra point to win the game, but unbelievably it was blocked by DT Kris Jenkins to send the game to overtime.

The Panthers ended up winning 12-9 on a John Kasay field goal.

Later that year, in the rematch in Charlotte, the Panthers again held the lead 20-7 in the fourth quarter.

A fan began to heckle Sapp-which turned out to be a bad idea.

Sapp quickly sacked QB Jake Delhomme twice to give the Buccaneers back the ball.

Tampa Bay then went on a tear, scoring 17 unanswered points to take the lead 24-20.

Delhomme, however, calmly led the Panthers down the field with no timeouts to throw the game-winning touchdown to WR Steve Smith.

Since then, the rivalry has been known for its trash talking and occasional fights.

Notably, Carolina DE Kavika Pittman essentially had his career ended after getting leveled by a block from Buccaneers T Kenyatta Walker in 2003.

Also, in 2006, Tampa Bay QB Chris Simms lost his spleen on a hit, and in 2009 Carolina CB Dante Wesley laid into PR Clifton Smith before he had caught the ball, knocking Smith out and getting Wesley ejected.

There were some disputes also between Bucs K Martin Gramatica and Panthers P Todd Sauerbrun.

In their first match up of the 2011 season, Cam Newton set an NFL record for most rushing touchdowns in a season for QB with 13.

In their second match up of the 2011 season, Newton set the record for most passing yards in a season for a rookie QB and converted a 91 yard touchdown pass to WR Brandon LaFell to set a Carolina Panther records for longest pass.

Carolina currently leads the series 14-9.