NFC Notes: Buccaneers, Lions, Panthers

Buccaneers

Though they were pushed to their limits by a scrappy Washington Football Team, the Buccaneers came away with their first playoff win since winning the Super Bowl in 2002. But to get back to the Super Bowl, Buccaneers QB Tom Brady said they’ll need to step up as a team the way players like WR Mike Evans and RB Leonard Fournette did on Saturday. 

“They both played great, and we needed them to play great,” Brady said via Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. “They made a bunch of big plays when we needed them to. It was a tough, hard-nosed game. They had a lot of fight. We had opportunities to pull away and just didn’t do it. We didn’t score enough points in the red area. There’s certainly a lot to improve on. We’ll figure out who we’re playing tomorrow and go from there.”

• Buccaneers G Alex Cappa has a fracture that “does not look good” per HC Bruce Arians. (Sara Walsh)
• Buccaneers RB Ronald Jones‘ status for this week is to be determined after his quad injury swelled up on him before Saturday’s game. (Ian Rapoport)

Lions

• CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora says the Lions are still exploring the possibility of luring Steelers GM Kevin Colbert despite it being a longshot he leaves Pittsburgh. 

Panthers

• According to Joel A. Erickson, Colts assistant GM Ed Dodds is withdrawing from the Panthers GM search. Erickson adds that Dodds respects the Panthers organization and he was honored to go through the process. 
• The Athletic’s Joe Person writes the Panthers are a strong candidate to be one of the staffs coaching at the Senior Bowl.