With just four games left in the season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are on the verge of pulling off yet another miraculous turnaround after all seemed lost. A four-game losing streak before the bye week nearly undid all of the good stuff the team did to start the season, but since then things haven’t stopped breaking in the Bucs’ favor.
Todd Bowles’ defense still has a lot of work to do, but the way the injury bug has chewed through the roster hasn’t helped. Despite this the Bucs are allowing just 14.3 points per game since the bye week and the offense continues to not miss manny beats. Back-to-back games that were closer than they should have been might serve as a wake-up call, as could the wafting of smells of postseason football being so close.
A tough game against the Los Angeles Chargers awaits on Sunday, but as the Bucs prepare for that game they’re already getting a nice little boost in the playoff picture.
Buccaneers got a nice playoff boost thanks to 49ers loss on TNF
It might not seem obvious but there are a few ways the 49ers losing on Thursday helps the Bucs out. According to the NYT playoff odds algorithm, Tampa Bay now has a 72 percent chance of making the playoffs and an over 60 percent chance of winning the NFC South.
The odds keep going up, which is a fantastic trend. The Bucs control their own destiny which is great and the odds continuing to move in their favor only solidifies the idea that the only team that can stop Tampa Bay from completing a turnaround is themselves.
We’ve seen this team get in its own way before, though, so the job hard hardly finished. Even though the Rams winning keeps them in the mix to potentially edge the Bucs out of a Wild Card spot, the Niners losing helps boost Tampa Bay’s chances and continue to widen their path to the postseason.
Here’s how things stack up heading into Sunday’s action:
|
Playoff Seed |
Team |
Record |
|---|---|---|
|
No. 1 |
Detroit Lions |
12-1 (Clinched) |
|
No. 2 |
Philadelphia Eagles |
11-2 (Clinched) |
|
No. 3 |
Seattle Seahawks |
8-5 |
|
No. 4 |
Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
7-6 |
|
No. 5 |
Minnesota Vikings |
11-2 |
|
No. 6 |
Green Bay Packers |
9-4 |
While nothing much changed at the top of the playoff picture, even if things tightened up with the NFC West lead, it’s the Wild Card race where the Bucs earned some breathing room. Assuming Tampa Bay doesn’t win the division, their route to the playoffs through the Wild Card is starting to get clearer and look more like a perfect safety net to fall back onto.
It’s not ideal, as winning the division is the best way to make the playoffs since it would mean not limping into January on luck rather than talent. Still, all options are on th table and the 49ers loss on Thursday night essentially takes them off the board as far as teams the Bucs need to worry about for now.
This is what the Wild Card standings look like heading into Week 15:
- No. 5 seed: Minnesota Vikings (11-2)
- No. 6 seed: Green Bay Packers (9-4)
- No. 7 seed: Washington Commanders (8-5)
- 8th: Los Angeles Rams (8-6)
- 9th: Atlanta Falcons (6-7)
- 10th: Arizona Cardinals (6-7)
- 11th: San Francisco 49ers (6-8)
If it comes down to it, the 49ers have the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Buccaneers but that’s starting to look less valuable as the weeks go by. In order for the tiebreaker to matter the 49ers would need not only the Bucs to start losing but the Rams, Falcons, and Cardinals as well as the Commanders.
There was a chance that it could come into play for seeding but it seems unlikely that the 49ers will be winning the NFC West this year, so the damage of Tampa Bay losing that tiebreaker has pretty much been neutralized.
A win on Sunday for the Bucs would essentially render the tiebreaker San Francisco holds meaingless. Of course, Tampa Bay winning would do a lot more than that as there’s zero margin for error over the team’s last four games as the race to win the division has not only tightened but become as realistic as it’s ever been for the Bucs.
