The Carolina Panthers held on to secure a narrow 19-17 win over NFC South rivals the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and boost their hopes of reaching the playoffs.

The home side were without starting quarterback Cam Newton, who is recovering after being involved in a car crash earlier this week, leaving backup Derek Anderson to lead the offense.

The Panthers opened the scoring when Graham Gano kicked a short field goal, but the Buccaneers quickly responded, as Mike Evans hauled in a pass from Josh McCown in the corner of the endzone.

Kelvin Benjamin got the ball back into Tampa Bay territory to give the Panthers another chance to add to their score, but they had to settle for another three points from Gano.

The kicker added a third field goal shortly before half time to briefly give Carolina the lead again, but Patrick Murray split the uprights himself late in the second quarter.

The Panthers were in front again shortly after the restart, though, as Jerricho Cotchery was left unmarked in the endzone to give Anderson an easy touchdown pass.

Gano added another field goal to seemingly seal the win in the fourth quarter, but McCown ran the ball in himself late on to leave the home side just two points back.

However, the Panthers managed to run down enough of the clock to make sure that the visitors did not get another chance, clinching their second win of the season against the Bucs.

The result leaves the Panthers at the top of the NFC South with a 5-8-1 record, although the New Orleans Saints are yet to play this weekend, while the Buccaneers sit bottom of the division on 2-12.