The Tampa Bay Buccaneers Week 18 victory over the Carolina Panthers couldn't have gone any better. The Buccaneers were victorious by a score of 41-17, as they dominated Carolina in every facet of the game. After the Buccaneers-Panthers game, we'll be discussing our Buccaneers Week 18 takeaways.

The Buccaneers entered the game with nothing to gain but positioning in the NFC playoff seeding but played like they had far more on the line. After a touchdown by the Panthers, the Buccaneers scored 17 unanswered points to take a lead that they wouldn't relinquish. With the win, the Buccaneers set up a date with the Philadelphia Eagles in the Wild Card round.

That said, here are our Buccaneers Week 18 takeaways from their win over the Panthers.

Buccaneers Week 18 Takeaways

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3. Tom Brady has all the weapons he needs

Without Antonio Brown, there were some questions as to whether the Buccaneers would have enough weapons to make another deep playoff run. Brady answered those questions resoundingly with a big-time performance against the Panthers. The future Hall of Famer threw for 326 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions, which hasn't been a particularly noteworthy statistical line for Brady this year. What was noteworthy was who did most of the heavy lifting on offense for the Buccaneers: Mike Evans and Rob Gronkowski. Evans found the end zone twice and Gronkowski exceeded 100 yards for the second straight week. Brady won't need much more than that for the Buccaneers to advance to the Super Bowl again.

2. The Buccaneers need Leonard Fournette badly

The absence of Leonard Fournette was felt more during this game than perhaps any other week. Yes, the game was in control practically the entire time. However, Buccaneers fans would be lying if they said they weren't at least a little worried about the running game after this contest. Tampa Bay's leading rusher was wide receiver Scotty Miller and Bruce Arians' anointed lead back, Ke'Shawn Vaughn ran for just 2.9 yards per carry. The Buccaneers will need Fournette, who can really wear down a defense with his between-the-tackles running, if they wat to advance back to the Super Bowl, especially if faced with a cold weather game in Green Bay. With Fournette set to return for the Eagles game, look for the Tampa Bay running game to have a much better showing in the Wild Card round.

1. Bring on the Eagles 

Tom Brady will get to face off with a familiar foe, one who has denied him a Super Bowl title in the past. The two teams met back in October, with Tampa Bay winning by a score of 28-22. Brady gets to take aim at a secondary that has shown some signs of weakness lately, while the Buccaneers' stout run defense will be tasked with stopping the league's best rushing offense. It's certainly not an easy matchup, though Tampa has been excellent at home, as evidenced by their 7-1 record. With Tampa Bay getting healthy at the right time, they could kick-start another title run with a dominant performance against the Eagles in the Wild Card round.