Is Tom Brady playing tonight against Carolina Panthers?

Tonight, Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-4) are scheduled to take on the Carolina Panthers (5-9) in a battle between two NFC South teams that appear to be going in opposite directions.

The Buccaneers have been fighting a battle of attrition lately as the injury bug came calling during last week's game against the New Orleans Saints.

At the conclusion of that game, which was a 9-0 loss to the Saints, Mike Evans (hamstring), Chris Godwin (ACL) and Leonard Fournette (hamstring) were each injured and did not return to the game.

As for the Panthers, they are virtually all but done, as it would take a music-city type of miracle for them to right the ship, especially with the declining play of their quarterback, Cam Newton.

With such an important game on the line for the Buccaneers, will Tom Brady be ready and available to play tonight?

Tom Brady will play tonight against the Carolina Panthers

Carolina Panthers v Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Tonight's Week 16 matchup between the Buccaneers and the Panthers will have Tom Brady ready and active to play with the hopes of earning a victory without several key players.

Mike Evans has officially been ruled out by head coach Bruce Arians for tonight while Chris Godwin is now out for the season after suffering a torn ACL in last week's matchup against the Saints.

Running back Leonard Fournette has also been placed on the injured reserve list, so the pickings for the offense will be slim for Tom Brady tonight.

The hope is for Evans and Godwin to be back for the postseason stretch, so it perhaps serves as a blessing that they were injured no later than last week.

Another blessing from the football gods is the fact that the Buccaneers' final three opponents aren't exactly world beaters: the Bucs are up against the Panthers tonight, the New York Jets next week, and the Panthers again for the regular season finale.

It seems as if everyone and everything took a beating last week for the Bucs, including a Microsoft Surface tablet that took a hit to the chin from Tom Brady.

Can the Buccaneers survive the rest of the regular season without their key offensive players?

New York Giants v Tampa Bay Buccaneers

When the Buccaneers signed Rob Gronkowski, Antonio Brown and Leonard Fournette last season, many were skeptical because the team was already stacked with effective skill position players.

That logic is now out of the window as what once seemed like a luxury has become a necessity.

Antonio Brown is scheduled to make his return to action tonight after a three-game suspension over submitting a fake vaccination card. He also had an ankle injury.

Tom Brady will have to lean heavily on two of his favorite and most familiar weapons in Brown and Gronkowski.

The team will rely on running back Ronald Jones to handle the load at running back. They have added free agent running back Le'Veon Bell to the roster just this week as added insurance to the position.

Tom Brady and the Buccaneers face-off against Cam Newton's Panthers tonight at 1:00 pm EST on FOX Network.