With the Panthers and Bucs tied at late in the fourth quarter Monday night, odds were good a former Florida State kicker would get a chance at redemption. But which one?

Carolina's Graham Gano had missed his only attempt of the night and Tampa Bay's Roberto Aguayo was 2-of-4, making the struggling second-rounder 3-of-7 in his rookie season.

But when the Bucs drove to the Panthers' 20-yard line with three seconds left, Aguayo drilled a 38-yard game-winner straight through the uprights.

"I told him congrats. I think that says a lot about who he is as a person. He doesn't let the stuff get to him," Gano said. "Obviously, I wanted to be in that position myself. I wanted us to get down there and get another chance."

Gano, who preceded Aguayo in Tallahassee by five years, is going through his own struggles in 2016. He's made just 8 of his 11 attempts for a success rate of 72.7 percent. That's a good distance from his career average of 79.5 percent and way off the 84.4 average he had in Carolina before this season.

For what it's worth, two of Gano's misses have come from 50-plus yards, but one was the likely game-winner against the Broncos in Week One.

"I feel like I'm hitting it well," Gano said. "If you look at my misses on the year, there was the one in Denver. Obviously, I wish I could have that one back. The one (against Tampa) was a mishit, and then I hit the post (against Minnesota)."

After setting a Panthers' record by nailing all six of his 50-plus yard attempts in 2013, Gano's made just four of his past 10 from that distance. The good news is he's 63-of-72 from inside the 50 since the start of 2014.

"I'm confident in him," coach Ron Rivera said. "He’s made some big kicks for us in the past. We'll keep working it and see what happens."

You could argue the Panthers would be 2-3 if Gano had made his 50-yarder in those finals seconds at Denver. But he's just part of the equation that has the Panthers at a disappointing 1-4.

"We're not playing very well. It's all around," Gano said. "I've got to do a better job kicking the ball. I think you can ask everyone how they feel and they'll say they have something they can improve on.

"But I'm going to work on myself, trying to make myself better, and that'll make the team better."