Buccaneers: Important win vs. Giants huge for playoff race

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) Mike Evans
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) Mike Evans

The Buccaneers needed their win against the Giants on Monday Night Football in a big way.

For more reasons than the obvious, the Buccaneers needed their win against the Giants last night. Not just for the sake of the team record or one of the worst slumps of the Brady era, but there were some playoff implications on the line last night.

Tampa needs the road to the Super Bowl to go through Tampa for as long as possible. The Cardinals are taking care of business for the time being, so it seems unlikely that they lose the top seed at this rate, so the Bucs need the two or three seed.

Home playoff games are a massive help that the Buccaneers didn’t get to experience last season until the Super Bowl, but this team has the talent to change this. After the win last night, the Bucs have moved to the third seed in the conference, which is very nice for the playoffs.

As it stands, the Bucs are pegged to play the Vikings in the first round, then the winner of the Saints and Packers in the second round. This would then end with what should be Dallas or one of the talented NFC West teams.

Regardless, staying away from Dallas and the NFC West until the conference championship is a great place to be. Aaron Rodgers in the second round is no pushover, but history seems to indicate that Tampa would rather play in Lambeau rather than against the Rams early.

There is still a lot of season remaining and Buccaneers fans shouldn’t count their chickens before they hatch, especially when there has been so much volatility in the league this season. There is still a chance for the Bucs to move into the top seed if the cards continue falling in their favor, but let’s just be happy with the current favorable positioning for now.

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