The 2016 season was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 41st in the National Football League (NFL) and their first under head coach Dirk Koetter.
A victory on Monday night against division rival Carolina saw Tampa Bay begin a streak in which they won seven out of their next nine games.
Between weeks 10 and 14, the Buccaneers achieved their first five-game winning streak since their first Super Bowl championship season.
Losses to the Dallas Cowboys and the New Orleans Saints late in the season hampered the Buccaneers' playoff hopes; heading into week 17, the team was still mathematically alive for a wild card berth, but despite defeating the Carolina Panthers, the team missed the playoffs for the ninth consecutive season, tied for the fourth-longest active streak in the NFL with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Quarterback Jameis Winston threw for 281 yards and four touchdown passes, as Tampa Bay defeated Atlanta 31–24.
Tampa Bay snapped Carolina's six game winning streak in the series, as the two clubs met on Monday Night Football.
With the game tied 14-14, Tampa Bay drove to the Panthers 20 yard line in the final minute.
After missing two attempts earlier in the game, Roberto Aguayo kicked a 38-yard game-winning field goal as time expired.
With 1:55 remaining in the overtime period, on a 4th down & 3, Carr threw a game-winning 41-yard touchdown pass to Seth Roberts.
Tampa Bay's only highlight came in the fourth quarter when Mike Evans made a spectacular one-handed sideline catch.
Chris Conte intercepted a Jay Cutler pass and returned the ball 20 yards for a touchdown in the first quarter to start the scoring.
Jameis Winston threw for 312 yards and two touchdowns, including a busted play and scramble to his own endzone which resulted in a remarkable 39-yard completion to Mike Evans.
Tampa Bay won their second straight game, this one against a team that was highly favored to win.
The defense came up big as well, with safety Chris Conte getting an interception in the end zone, his second straight game with a pick.
Rookie kicker Roberto Aguyao, who has struggled throughout the season, went 5/5 on kicks, making 4 field goals and 1 extra point.
After the game, the Week 15 matchup against the Dallas Cowboys was flexed from a normal 1 p.m. kickoff to Sunday Night Football.
This put the Bucs outside the playoff picture, and left them requiring victory in week 17 as well as hoping for the Washington Redskins and the Green Bay Packers to both lose.
In addition to this win, the Buccaneers' playoff hopes required six other Week 17 results (including a tie between the New York Giants and Washington Redskins) to fall their way in order to secure a strength-of-victory tiebreaker over the Green Bay Packers for the final wild-card berth.