Williams' score followed long touchdown catches from Tampa Bay's Antonio Bryant and Carolina's Steve Smith in a matchup of the top teams in the NFC South. It came in the same stadium where he suffered a career-threatening knee injury just four games into last season, sidelining him for the rest of 2007 and the first 10 games of this year.

Last year, Williams was hurt after taking a hit from safety Chris Harris near the Panthers' bench after an 18-yard run. The blow forced Williams backward as his right leg bent under him awkwardly, tearing the patellar tendon in his knee.

He looked healthy on his touchdown, bouncing a short run to the right side and into the end zone to tie it with 3:37 left in the third.

Bryant set up the score with a 39-yard catch, part of a huge day for the sixth-year veteran. He also had a 50-yard TD catch in the third, and entered the final period with seven catches for a career-high 171 yards.

Smith was busy turning in his own strong performance, slipping through Tampa Bay's secondary and into the open to haul in a 38-yard pass from Jake Delhomme that made it 17-10 with 8:19 left. Smith had eight catches for 108 yards through three quarters.

The scoring flurry livened up a game that had few offensive bursts in the first half, with Carolina leading 10-3 at halftime on Jonathan Stewart's 2-yard run late in the second. Both offenses eventually found room to operate, though Delhomme had thrown two interceptions to hinder Carolina's charge.

Still, it was an improved offensive showing for the Panthers, who couldn't run the ball in a 27-3 loss at Tampa Bay in October. DeAngelo Williams had run for 87 yards entering the final quarter, including a 40-yarder up the middle in the second quarter that made him just the third player in franchise history to run for 1,000 yards in a season. Stewart managed 67 yards on just nine carries, part of a 154-yard day on the ground thus far.

In the first meeting, Carolina managed just 40 yards on 20 carries, Delhomme threw three interceptions and the Buccaneers returned a blocked punt for a touchdown.

Two of the most overlooked contenders in the NFL took center stage as the NFC South got a rare night in the spotlight. While much of the talk in the conference had focused on the strength of the East, Carolina and Tampa Bay, both 9-3, were leading a less-glamorous division that includes much-improved Atlanta (8-5) and high-scoring New Orleans (7-6).

A win would allow either the Buccaneers or the Panthers to tie Pittsburgh for the third-best record in the NFL.

Jeff Garcia had thrown for 220 yards through three periods, including a 52-yarder to Bryant in the second quarter to set up a field goal from Matt Bryant and the 50-yard score in which Bryant muscled his way past Ken Lucas, getting to the left pylon to tie it at 10.

The Buccaneers missed out on a couple of chances to score more points. First, Tampa Bay drove to the Carolina 22 late in the first quarter, but Bryant's 40-yard field goal hit the left upright and bounced back into the end zone with 14 seconds left in the first quarter.

Then, after an interception by Ronde Barber turned away a Panthers drive that reached the Bucs' 28-yard line early in the second, Garcia's 52-yard heave to Bryant got the Bucs to the 2. But they couldn't cross the goal line, with Thomas Davis breaking up Garcia's pass for Jerramy Stevens in the back of the end zone on third down to set up Bryant's 20-yard kick that tied it at 3.