Page 14 - Florida Sentinel 1-5-16 Edition

Sports
Bucs Lose Finale To Panthers
Jameis Winston Now Has
The Tampa Bay Bucca- neers have officially ended their 2015 season with 4 more wins than last season.
The Bucs (6-10) bowed to the NFC South winner Car- olina Panthers (15-1) 38-10 on the road. The Panthers by virtue of the win and the loss by the Arizona Cardinals, will have home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Panthers quarterback, and presumptive league MVP, Cam Newton, passed for two touchdowns and ran for two. He finished the night 21-of-26 passing for 293 yards.
Buccaneer quarterback Jameis Winston finished his rookie season passing for 325 yards, and giving him more than 4,000 for the sea- son, a rookie record.
Winston, who
threw a pair of interceptions, found himself again not get- ting any help from his offen- sive line or his wide receivers. Both are areas head coach Lovie Smith will address during this year’s NFL draft.
After Sunday’s game, Winston was critical of some of his teammates, say- ing the coaches wanted to
3rd-Most Passing Yards
also
Return To Super Bowl For
Cam Newton gets a pass off under extreme pressure.
Panthers defensive end Mario Addison sacks Jameis Win- ston.
In his first NFL season, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quar- terback Jameis Winston has already changed the di- rection of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers organization, and has also began to etch his name in the NFL history books.
Sunday against the Pan- thers, Winston surpassed future Hall-of-Famer Pey- ton Manning’s rookie pass- ing total and now has the third-most passing yards for
JAMEIS WINSTON
a rookie quarterback in NFL history with 4,000+, behind only Andrew Luck and Cam Newton, respectively.
For Rookie In NFL History
Seahawks In Position To
Third Straight Season
With Cam Newton And Strong Defense, Panthers Have What It Takes To Go All The Way
Quarterback Cam Newton is having a career season, and his confidence and leadership are at an all-time high.
Steelers One Of AFC's Most Dangerous Playoff Teams
win more than they did.
One of Winston’s inter- ceptions was the fault of wide receiver Cameron Brate and it didn’t help matters with Bobby Rainey fum-
bling a punt return.
With one NFL head coach
already fired and several oth- ers expecting pink slips, it re- mains uncertain if Smith is on the hot seat.
49ers Dismiss Jim Tomsula After 5-11 Season -- His First
JIM TOMSULA
SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- After one strange season, the San Francisco 49ers fired rookie coach Jim Tomsula.
"Jimmy has been a valu- able member of the 49ers or- ganization for the last nine years," CEO Jed York said in a statement. "We all know he is a man of high character, and his contributions on the field and in our community have always been greatly ap- preciated. This entire organi- zation is proud and grateful to have worked so closely along- side Jimmy. We all wish him and his family great success in the future."
The Niners went 5-11 in Tomsula's lone season as head coach and ended the year with a 19-16 victory over the St. Louis Rams on Sunday in front of a sparse crowd at Levi's Stadium.
The Seattle Seahawks closed out the regular season with a 36-6 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sun- day. They move on to the NFC playoffs to face either the Washington Redskins or Minnesota Vikings.
Given how the final seven games played out, there are many, but No. 1 on the list is Russell Wilson. Since Week 10, he has completed 71 percent of his passes, aver- aged 8.8 yards per attempt and tossed 24 touchdowns against one interception.
Wilson has shown he can beat defenses in a variety of ways. He can win from the pocket. He can extend plays. And he can do damage with his legs. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Wilson
RUSSELL WILSON
is the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for at least 4,000 yards, post 30- plus passing touchdowns and rush for at least 500 yards.
The Seahawks have suf- fered injuries to Jimmy Graham, Marshawn Lynch, Thomas Rawls and offensive linemen. But Wilson has played the best football of his career and gives them an opportunity to make noise in the NFC.
The Carolina Panthers closed out the regular season with a 38-10 win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.
They now move on to the NFC playoffs as the No. 1 seed. They will have a bye next weekend.
Nobody can say the Pan- thers backed into the play- offs, as many did last season when Carolina won the NFC South with a 7-8-1 record. With the NFL's best record, the Panthers (15-1) are two wins at home from reaching the Super Bowl.
They are 8-0 at Bank of America Stadium this season and have won 11 straight there, counting a playoff win last year against Arizona. With victories over Washing-
ton, Green Bay and Seattle, they have already defeated three of the other five NFC teams in the playoffs. They haven't faced Arizona or Minnesota.
The Panthers should be as healthy on offense as they have been all season, with leading rusher Jonathan Stewart (foot sprain) and wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. (knee) back following the bye. That Stewart is fresh after a stretch of eight straight games with 20 or more carries could be key. Quarterback Cam Newton is having a career season with a combined 45 touch- downs (35 passing and 10 rushing). His confidence and leadership are at an all-time high.
The Pittsburgh Steelers closed out the regular season with a28-12 victory against the Cleveland Browns. They now move on to the playoffs.
Dan-ger-ous. The Steelers are still the team no one wants to face in a playoff set- ting. Even when the offense struggles, it can turn it on at any time -- deep balls, side- line work, over-the-middle catches. Antonio Brown has never been better. The defense has been uneven at times, but overall it has im- proved over last year. And it will be better equipped to handle playoff moments than it was a year ago, relying on its ability to stop the run and rush the passer. Defenders must tackle more consis- tently. Still, the Steelers did not give up more than 20
ANTONIO BROWN
points in each of their last two games. They believe they are better than any team they would face in the first round, especially if it is the Cincin- nati Bengals.
The Steelers are great when the offense doesn’t turn the ball over. Ben Roethlis- berger's 16 interceptions in 12 games are hard to ignore, but when they play a clean game, the Steelers can move the ball on anybody most of the time.
PAGE 14 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2016