Chris Tabor may have himself 50 or so lumberjacks on his sideline—and he couldn’t be more proud of it.
On Monday, following his first game as the interim head coach of the Carolina Panthers, Tabor spoke with reporters to put a bow on the 21-18 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And despite the defeat, he was most encouraged by their resolve until the very end.
“I think the thing that I was pleased about—when we got down 11, the wheels didn’t come off of the cart,” Tabor said. “And maybe for a second, we said, ‘Hey guys, there’s 11:28 left on the clock. There’s a lot of football left. Let’s just kinda keep choppin’ wood. It might not be the prettiest, that’s okay. Let’s keep playin’, give ourselves a chance.’ And the kids did that.”
A 19-yard touchdown run by wide receiver Chris Godwin pushed the Buccaneers to a 21-10 lead at the 11:36 mark of the fourth quarter. But, as Tabor recounted, his players didn’t drop their axes.
The Panthers responded with an 11-play, 75-yard touchdown drive capped off by running back Chuba Hubbard’s second score of the day. Quarterback Bryce Young then proceeded to punch in a two-point conversion to cut the deficit to three.
Unfortunately for Carolina, the offense couldn’t complete the comeback after an ensuing three-and-out stand from their defense—as Young tossed a game-clinching pick to safety Antoine Winfield Jr. on a fourth-and-1.
Nonetheless, Tabor and the Panthers still may have had enough wood to keep at least a little warm on the trip home.
