This was supposed to be a throwaway season for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Regardless of what anyone says contrary to that, the Bucs came into this season with some massive question marks at key positions, had a mountain of dead cap space, and had a head coach that looked like he was on one of the hotter seats in the NFL.

None of that matters now. The Bucs gambled, yes, they gambled, and they won in a huge way despite taking losses on almost every hand before that. Now, the Bucs are at 3-1 and on their bye, and the outlook on the rest of the season is extremely bright.

If we are to believe the first four games are a decent sample size of what this team can actually do, we can determine that these Buccaneers are going to move the ball well (just not as well as they did under Tom Brady) and play hard defense.

That is usually all that it takes to win most games in the NFL, and Tampa has proven this well by beating three mediocre to bad teams on their schedule.

While some would point to these bad teams (Bears, Vikings, and Saints do look bad), the schedule doesn't get that much more difficult for the Bucs than what they have seen so far.

The Lions, Bills, and 49ers have looked every bit as good as advertised, but the rest of the schedule is filled with winnable games. 

The NFC South looks terrible. Even if you account for a split with the Saints due to the nature of the rivalry, the Bucs should be favorites to sweep the Panthers and the Falcons rather easily. 

Then, moving to the equally-weak AFC South, it should become apparent quickly that the Bucs should be expected to win double-digit games this season, even if they are outmatched against the three good teams left on their schedule.

If Tampa can beat the bad teams and play the good teams closer than they did last year, this season would be a dramatic win for a team that has been able to subvert expectations from the jump.

A 12-5 season is absolutely on the table.

The future is bright in Tampa. You might as well get on the bandwagon now.

Buccaneers define themselves in dominant Week 4 win

You can’t argue with those results.