The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were desperate in Week 18 as they welcomed the Carolina Panthers.
Win, and the Bucs would rely on the New Orleans Saints to beat the Atlanta Falcons to secure playoff football, but lose, and the season would be over.
For a team coming into this game losing seven of its last eight games, it wasn't in the best of form, but Tampa managed a gritty 16-14 win at Raymond James Stadium.
Finally, a win.
And for center Graham Barton, it was a weight lifted off the team's shoulders to be able to get back on the winner's list.
"I just think you could feel it from the moment everyone walked in this locker room, it was kind of like enough is enough,” Barton said. “Trust me, whatever the fans feel about this losing streak, I promise you guys it is twice as hard for us. Just when it's your career and livelihood, it is brutal.
"So just to be able to get out of that hole and kind of break that spell, you could just tell, I knew walking in this locker room that things were going to go well for us, and we got it done."
More: No Week 18 pity party for Buccaneers' Todd Bowles
Buccaneers relief comes too late
The worst part of the predicament that Tampa Bay finds itself in is that it had ample chances over the past two months to steady the ship, and just one win since Week 8 isn't going to get it done.
So yes, the win over the Panthers released the pressure valve, but if the Falcons beat the Saints and the Buccaneers miss the playoffs, it will be an uncomfortable offseason for Todd Bowles and Co.
A season that started so well (5-1) has struggled to gain any momentum in the second half of the season.
Now, needing help from their rivals, the Week 18 win was bittersweet.
And as a result, the Buccaneers might miss out on the postseason altogether.
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