Buccaneers receive an early Christmas present on Thursday night
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are moving in the right direction as the playoffs approach. From a 4-7 record that seemingly had them left for dead, Tampa Bay now tops the division and is the favorite to claim the NFC South as Christmas approaches. The men in pewter and red got an early present gift wrapped […]
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are moving in the right direction as the playoffs approach. From a 4-7 record that seemingly had them left for dead, Tampa Bay now tops the division and is the favorite to claim the NFC South as Christmas approaches.
The men in pewter and red got an early present gift wrapped by the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday Night Football. The New Orleans Saints, who entered their matchup with the Rams on Thursday Night Football tied in the standings with the Bucs, fell to Los Angeles 30-22.
The result means that the Buccaneers are no longer technically in must-win mode and can actually afford a slip up down the stretch. Win two of their final three, and the Buccaneers are division champs for a third straight season.
That gives the Buccaneers a tad bit of breathing room and a small margin for error. The Buccaneers play on Sunday afternoon at 4:05 pm ET against the Jacksonville Jaguars, who are trending towards playing without Trevor Lawrence, who is in concussion protocol. The Buccaneers then face the Saints on New Year's Eve and finish the year on the road against the Carolina Panthers in Week 18.
If Tampa Bay can knock off a likely Lawrence-less Jaguars (who are also without their dangerous slot WR Christian Kirk), then that would set up a win-and-in scenario among their last two games against the Saints at home and against the two-win Panthers. If the Bucs can't find a way to win two of those final three games, then they most certainly do not deserve to be in the playoffs in the first place.
However, for now, optimism abounds. The Buccaneers have two things in December they could only have hoped for at the start of the year: control of their own destiny to a third straight division title and room for error to get there.
And that's all thanks to a present from the Rams on Thursday night.
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