CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- It wasn't pretty. You could call it downright ugly.

But as Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton has said more than a few times this season, there is no such thing as an ugly victory -- particularly when it clinches a spot in the playoffs.

Seriously, though, this was ugly.

And strange.

The Panthers got a first down by inches on fourth-and-1 from the 3 with 39 seconds remaining. On the next play from the 2, Newton fumbled the snap out of the shotgun, had the ball bounce back into his arms and scored the winning touchdown with 35 ticks left.

All of a sudden, a huge upset bid by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers turned into an early Christmas present for Carolina, a 22-19 victory on Sunday at Bank of America Stadium.

"It was on the 2-yard line? Man, that's crazy," Newton said. "I almost gave it up. It was just the element of surprise.

"I'm just proud of this team's resilience. Man, just through everything. It was very trying for us to catch rhythm today. We found ways. We're a good team. We're trying to be great."

And get this: The Panthers (11-4) still could win the NFC South if the Buccaneers (4-11) can beat the New Orleans Saints (11-4) next week.

But for now, Carolina can head to Atlanta for its finale knowing it at least is headed for the playoffs and knowing it can win even when it doesn't play well.

"It was an ugly win," defensive tackle Kawann Short said. "We knew we needed to take care of business. At the end of the day we got the job done. We're in the playoffs, another step [toward] where we're trying to get to."

Prior to Newton's touchdown run, the Panthers had done little right offensively. The defense had struggled, too.

This one appeared to have been decided by a play in the middle of the fourth quarter that could have haunted the Panthers all offseason.

The official already had called holding on the Bucs in the end zone, which would have been a safety against Tampa Bay, which led 19-15. The Panthers would have been within two points with the ball and about seven minutes remaining.

But an unnecessary roughness penalty on defensive tackle Star Lotulelei negated the holding, and Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston followed that with a 30-yard completion.

It was a small sample of how undisciplined the Panthers were.

Perhaps the ugliness showed the Panthers were indeed distracted during a week in which they dealt with the news that team owner Jerry Richardson plans to sell the team after the season amidst an NFL investigation into his workplace misconduct.

Players insisted they were focused on football, not the off-field distractions. But they didn’t play like a focused team offensively or defensively.

Newton struggled all day, a week after throwing for four touchdowns against Green Bay. He completed 16 of 25 pass attempts for 160 yards and no touchdowns.

Three times inside the red zone, Carolina settled for field goals before Newton's late touchdown run. The only bright spot was wide receiver Damiere Byrd, who had a team-record 103-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

But Byrd left in the second half with a knee injury, limiting an offense already missing Russell Shepard (shoulder) even more.

Carolina coach Ron Rivera warned all week the Buccaneers were a dangerous team offensively. He kept pointing to the big games by Winston.

Winston had another, throwing for 315 yards and a touchdown in just over three quarters to give Tampa Bay a 19-15 lead. He finished with 367 yards.

The absence of outside linebacker Thomas Davis, suspended for one game for targeting Green Bay wide receiver Davante Adams a week ago, could have been a factor.

Coming into the game, teams were averaging 1.2 yards more per play -- 6.2 to 5.0 -- when Davis wasn't on the field. The opposing Total Quarterback Rating was 39 with him playing, 75 without him, according to ESPN Stats & Info.

But even without Davis, the Panthers know this one shouldn't have been that close.

Or ugly.

"I couldn't tell you exactly what the energy level was throughout the game," tight end Ed Dickson said. "It did waver a little bit. But to have that much juice and energy to finish the game off, it shows the character of this team."