The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will likely miss the postseason again, but that shouldn’t determine how their season is viewed.
Yes, Buccaneers fans, there is still a small, microscopic glimmer of hope the Buccaneers can make the playoffs this season. For a team that controlled their own playoff destiny, things took a turn in a hurry after back to back losses to the Cowboys and Saints. Here is what has to go down in order for the Bucs to sneak in;
- Cowboys beat Lions
- Buccaneers beat Panthers
- Lions beat Packers
- 49ers beat Seahawks
- Colts beat Jaguars
- Cowboys beat Eagles
- Titans beat Texans
- And finally, the real kicker, Redskins and Giants have to TIE
The chances of the tie alone happening is 1 in 60,000, so needless to say the Bucs won’t be playing in January. As unfortunate as that is, there is a bigger picture than just 2016. This season – for all its highs and lows – was a success.
There was a rookie head coach in Dirk Koetter that came into his own as the season progressed. He made his mistakes – like any coach does, especially a first year head coach – but he led this team to their longest win streak since 2002. Not too shabby.
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There is the continued growth of Jameis Winston as this franchise’s unquestioned leader. For all the turnovers or boneheaded decisions Winston makes at times, look at what he’s doing with the players around him. Outside of Mike Evans (who we’ll get to in a moment), all of his pass catching targets are undrafted free agents. Doug Martin was a first round pick, but missed half the season. Winston was winning games with players like Cameron Brate, Freddie Martino, Russell Shepard, and Adam Humphries.
Mike Evans has now enshrined himself in to the upper-echelon of NFL receivers. He’s in that Antonio Brown, A.J. Green, Julio Jones discussion. From as poorly as he behaved last season – when combined with his propensity to drop passes – to have the turnaround that he did was remarkable. He leads the NFL in catches for a first down and targets, he’s third in touchdowns, and he’s fifth in receptions and yards. Evans, Brown, and Odell Beckham Jr. are the only players to appear in the top five in all of those statistics.
As for the defense, they went from a sieve of a unit to one of the best in the NFL in one season. They couldn’t stop a nosebleed with a Costco case of cotton balls in the first few weeks. All of a sudden, the defense was shutting down the likes of Seattle and New Orleans, diving up less than thirteen points per game. They had the most takeaways in the NFL since week five. The Bucs now rank fifth in the NFL in takeaways after being tied for first just two weeks ago, but that’s remarkable in itself given how the season began.
There will be plenty of work for Jason Licht and Koetter to do in the offseason, addressing the needs of the team and continuing to build on the solid foundation they’ve laid down. The secondary still needs help, there is a need for depth along both lines, and a desperate need for playmakers on offense. There will be some Doug Martin drama unfolding over the course of the next few months as it appears Koetter may have given up on him after begging to have Licht re-sign him before he hit free agency.
Overall, Buccaneers fans should be proud of what this team did in 2016. If they were asked before the start of the season if 9-7, even 8-8 would be the outcome, most Bucs fans would be ecstatic. There will be disappointment that the playoffs are going to be missed, but there should be more pride in the fact that we’re seeing the franchise transform. The culture is changing, the team is competing, and their core is young.
You have to crawl before you walk, walk before you run. The same applies to the Buccaneers. They learned how to compete with the big boys this season. They have to learn to compete before they learn how to win, learn how to win before they learn how to dominate, learn how to dominate before they can bring home the Lombardi.
Next: Bucs Found A Gem In Kwon Alexander
It’s getting there, Buccaneers fans. It truly is.