‘We need everybody out here’ for next week’s game against Panthers

TAMPA — There was a noticeable number of empty seats at Raymond James  Stadium for the Bucs’ 27-9 win over the 49ers on Sunday, with huge swaths of the silver stadium club seats and the upper deck unfilled.

The announced paid attendance was just 50,436, which is about 15,000 short of the stadium’s capacity.

Following the Bucs’ win, defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul said he hoped to see a fuller stadium for next week’s division game against Carolina.

“They’re coming in strong, and we’re coming in strong, too,” Pierre-Paul said. “This is our house. (Hope) we have the home-field advantage. We most definitely need every fan out. It was kind of empty out there today. We still love the fan support, but we need everybody out here. If we’re going to do it, we’re going to do it with everybody. … We need everybody here.”

Contact Eduardo A. Encina at [email protected] Follow @EddieInTheYard