TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) -- Special teams were very special for the Carolina Panthers. But another overtime home opener was not so special for Jon Gruden.
John Kasay drilled a 47-yard field goal with 3:28 left in overtime to lift the Panthers to a surprising 12-9 victory over the defending champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Kasay kicked four field goals to account for all of Carolina's scoring. But Kris Jenkins and Steve Smith also made pivotal plays on special teams for the Panthers (2-0), who started last season with three wins under coach John Fox.
Trailing 9-3, the Buccaneers (1-1) thought they had the game won when Keenan McCardell made a leaping six-yard catch in the back of the end zone as time expired. However, with the sellout crowd on its feet prepared to celebrate a come-from-behind victory, Jenkins penetrated the line and blocked Martin Gramatica's extra-point attempt, forcing overtime.
"I went in and blocked it. I don't think it was rocket science or anything," said Jenkins, who also blocked a 38-yard field goal attempt by Gramatica in the second quarter. "It was now or never. Somebody had to get it."
"Honestly, we got overpowered inside," Gruden said. "It was all middle rush."
It was the first extra-point miss by Gramatica in 130 career attempts. He converted one field goal and had two blocked.
"You can't let it get you down," Gramatica said. "There is a lot more football to play. We just have to line it up and kick it again. This is over. We have to learn from the mistakes."
Last week, the Panthers also blocked a punt for a safety and blocked a 55-yard field goal attempt by Seth Marler to preserve a 24-23 victory over Jacksonville.
In the overtime, Smith set up the winning field goal with a 52-yard punt return down the right sideline to the Tampa Bay 40. Stephen Davis then ran right for 10 yards to the 30. After three more running plays netted six yards, Kasay prepared for a 42-yard kick. A false start penalty pushed the kick back five yards, but it had no effect on Kasay, who split the uprights with his third career overtime field goal.
"It is almost how we do it in practice. We kick one and then we will back up," Kasay said. "Our guys battled and battled. They aren't the world champions by accident, so you have to give credit to everybody in this locker room."
Kasay kicked field goals of 28, 35 and 20 yards before the overtime winner.
Davis lived up to his reputation as a workhorse back, pounding the vaunted Tampa Bay defense for 142 yards on 33 carries.
"They're Super Bowl champs, but we fought hard and never gave up," Davis said. "The thing we did was stay together."
Tampa Bay could not sustain an effective running game as Brad Johnson attempted a career-high 61 passes, completing 34 for 339 yards.
"We hurt ourselves obviously with the penalties, the two missed field goals and extra point," Johnson said.
Keyshawn Johnson had nine receptions for 102 yards, but dropped a pass in the end zone with 19 seconds left. On the next play, he caught a 17-yard pass to the Carolina 6 before McCardell's touchdown.
"There's no panic setting in for us," Keyshawn Johnson said. "We just have to evaluate where we are at and what we did that was wrong out there and try to make the corrections."
It marked the second straight year the Bucs lost their home opener in overtime under coach Gruden, falling to New Orleans, 26-20 last season.
The Bucs self-destructed Sunday with 17 penalties for 168 yards. Carolina was penalized 16 times for 120 yards.
"They were busy officials today," Gruden said. "Obviously, far too many penalties, particularly on early downs. Having overcome the down and distance we did today against a darn good defense is very difficult. There were some calls that were questionable as there always are, but far too many penalties on Tampa today."
"It's part of the game," said Panthers coach John Fox. "I think a lot of the penalties were offensive linemen trying to keep those defensive linemen out on both sides."
Carolina's Jake Delhomme, who came off the bench last week and took the starting job away from Rodney Peete, was just 9-of-23 for 96 yards with two interceptions.
"Our defense played their tails off all game long and our special teams came through time after time," Delhomme said. "Offensively, we just couldn't punch it in. We were able to get some field goals, but we certainly would've liked to punch it in."
Tampa Bay's defense - ranked No. 1 in the NFL last season - blanked Philadelphia last week and did not let the Panthers into the end zone on Sunday.
But Davis got physical with them all day. On Carolina's first scoring drive, which went 70 yards in 12 plays, Davis broke off runs of 17, 10 and 20 yards to set up Kasay's 28-yard field goal with 2:05 left in the first quarter.
Kasay's second field goal - a 35-yarder with 14 seconds left in the half - came after defensive end Al Wallace returned an interception 53 yards to the Tampa Bay 7. Bucs running back Michael Pittman prevented a potential touchdown by tackling Wallace from behind.
Carolina opened the second half with an 11-play, 70-yard drive which resulted in Kasay's 20-yard field goal, giving the Panthers a 9-0 lead.
An interception by cornerback Brian Kelly at the Carolina 28 set up a 41-yard field goal by Gramatica with 2:07 left in the third quarter.
