Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Week 18 playoff picture: The mission is clear
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had two chances to lock up their third division title in a row on Sunday. Unfortunately, they played like a team who knew they did. The New Orleans Saints were the more physical team and played with a greater sense of urgency in defeating the Buccaneers 23-13. Now, Tampa Bay faces […]
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers had two chances to lock up their third division title in a row on Sunday. Unfortunately, they played like a team who knew they did. The New Orleans Saints were the more physical team and played with a greater sense of urgency in defeating the Buccaneers 23-13.
Now, Tampa Bay faces a near must win situation in order to win the division. The Buccaneers can clinch the division with a win over the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte on Sunday. Their chances to win the division have dropped from 84% from last week to 56% this week, per the New York Times playoff odds tracker.
The current NFC South standings are as follows:
Tampa Bay 8-8
New Orleans 8-8
Atlanta 7-9
Carolina 2-14
The Buccaneers hold the tiebreaker over the Saints by way of record against common opponents. As such, the Saints must finish with a better record than the Bucs to win the division.
There are still a couple of long-shot paths for the Buccaneers to qualify for the playoffs if they don't win on Sunday. If Tampa Bay ties Carolina and the Saints lose to the Atlanta Falcons or tie them, the Buccaneers would win the division at 8-8-1.
Likewise, if the Buccaneers tie the Panthers (and lose the division in the process due to a Saints win), the Seattle Seahawks lose to the Arizona Cardinals, and the Green Bay Packers lose to or tie the Chicago Bears, Tampa Bay is in as a wild card team.
A Buccaneers loss and a Falcons win over the Saints would not do the trick for Tampa Bay, as Atlanta would come out on top of all three 8-9 teams with the best division record. The Buccaneers also don't have a path to a wild card at 8-9.
Accordingly, the mission is clear: win on Sunday and secure the NFC's #4 seed, which the NFC South winner is locked into. Tie? Hope for help.
Lose? It's all over, and perhaps for more than just this season for some inside One Buc Place.
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