The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have to win their last two regular season games over the Panthers and Saints (both where they will be favorites) and hope the Falcons lose one of their final two games to clinch a playoff spot.

If those two things happen, Baker Mayfield and the Bucs will with the NFC South and make it to the postseason for the second-straight season under the revamped Bucs squad since Tom Brady retired.

While the Buccaneers have won four of their last five games, there was a stretch in the middle of the season where they looked like they might throw away any playoff chances to close out 2024.

After starting the season (4-2) with wins over the Commanders, Eagles and Lions a projected NFC wildcard team and projected two top NFC playoff squads), Tampa Bay lost four-straight games and it took losing four-straight to gain the momentum back.

And while their four wins in their last five matchups have come against only one potential playoff team with a winning record (Panthers, Giants, Raiders and Chargers), the Buccaneers performance in Los Angeles in Week 16 is a great representation of how dangerous they can be.

Mayfield and company flew across the country — and not only beat the Chargers who many believe will earn one of the AFC wildcard spots — they absolutely dominated them, cruising to a 40-17 blowout.

The Buccaneers posted 506 yards of total offense, averaged 7.6 yards per play, picked up 24 first downs and didn’t punt one time during the 60-minute game.

Mayfield was fantastic, finishing the win 22-of-27 for 288 yards and four touchdowns. While it’s been well-documented that Mayfield is playing as well as the top quarterbacks in the league right now, he’s getting major help from his WR duo.

NFL fans won’t be surprised to hear Mike Evans is playing as well as any receiver in the league this season, but with Chris Godwin out for the year with an injury, the emergence of rookie Jalen McMillan has been one of the underrated bright spots of Tampa Bay’s offense.

Pro Football Focus (PFF) recently released their advanced statistics for the 2024 season so far and both Evans and McMillan rank within the top 10 in one of the most important categories for a NFL WR.

PFF says “separation percentage measures how often a receiver beats the coverage to get open rather than benefiting from a defense more focused on limiting yards after the catch or stopping them short of the first down.

This metric is not limited to just targeted routes. Instead, it looks at all routes run where a defense tries to prevent a receiver from getting open.”

With two games remaining in the regular season, Evans ranks No. 2 in the NFL in separation percentage, with 92 snaps with separation out of 126 opportunities (73.02%). The rookie, McMillan, ranks No. 6 in the league in this same category with 73 snaps of separation on 106 opportunities (68.87%).

Evans has been one of the top WRs in the NFL for a long time so it’s no surprise to see he’s getting open as often as any pass-catcher in the league.

But with Chris Godwin out for the year with injury, the emergence of McMillan in the Buccaneers offense will be critical down this final stretch and into the playoffs if Tampa Bay clinches the division.