Buccaneers: Simulators project Tampa Bay in NFL playoffs

Shaquil Barrett, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Shaquil Barrett, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

Could the Tampa Bay Buccaneers finally break a 12-year streak of missing the postseason this year? These simulators seem to believe so.

The Action Network released its projections for the 2020 NFL playoffs and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were included.

When the NFL owners voted to add a seventh team to the playoffs in each conference, the Action Network had its model simulate the season 10,000 times to determine the most likely teams to make the playoffs and their berths.

Here’s a look at the seeds in each conference, according to the simulations:

AFC:

  1. Kansas City CHiefs
  2. Baltimore Ravens
  3. Indianapolis Colts
  4. Buffalo Bills
  5. Pittsburgh Steelers
  6. Tennessee Titans
  7. Los Angeles Chargers

NFC:

  1. San Francisco 49ers
  2. New Orleans Saints
  3. Dallas Cowboys
  4. Minnesota Vikings
  5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
  6. Green Bay Packers
  7. Philadelphia Eagles

The Buccaneers have a projected 9.16 wins and are considered to have a 62.95 percent chance of making the playoffs and a 3.91 percent chance of winning the Super Bowl, according to the models.

As you can see from the projected seeds, the simulators believe that the New Orleans Saints will win the NFC South and that the Bucs will grab one of those wildcard bids. For those wondering, the Saints have 9.98 projected wins, a 77.34 percent chance to make the playoffs and a 10.34 percent chance of winning the Super Bowl.

When you look at the comparison of the two teams, you can see two interesting aspects: First, both teams are projected to have right around 9-10 wins, meaning that the division race could very well be tight.

But the other projection is the fact that the Saints have a better than 10 percent chance to win the Super Bowl while the Bucs have less than 4 percent chance.

That shows that these models may like the Bucs to compete in the regular season and come within a game or two of winning the division, but the models don’t like Tampa’s chances of winning it all once they get to the postseason.

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