NFC is suddenly wide open for Buccaneers to take advantage after bye

Now with the bye week in the rearview mirror for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the NFC is suddenly ripe for the picking for the Buccaneers if they want it.

Despite the slow start to the 2022 NFL season for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, given the current state of the NFC, the Buccaneers are still in excellent shape believe it or not. At 5-5, a record being good enough for first place in the NFC South will raise some eyebrows, but this goes far deeper than that.

For starters, let’s just put it bluntly. This division stinks. The Bucs don’t need to play close to their best football, and should still win it going away given how the Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints, and Carolina Panthers look. As of right now, the Buccaneers would be the fourth seed in the NFC and host a playoff game. However, they’re only a game back from being the third seed, which would enhance their chances of hosting more than one playoff game should they be so fortunate by that time.

Speaking of the NFC, there is no reason to believe the Buccaneers can’t make a run.

The Los Angeles Rams are dead, the Green Bay Packers have one foot in the grave, and the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants pretty much just got exposed this week. Elsewhere, the Dallas Cowboys are the Dallas Cowboys, and we’ve all seen this movie before as far as the end of their seasons is concerned. The San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks both look good, but will only go as far as Jimmy Garoppolo and Geno Smith will allow them to go. Granted, in the case of Garoppolo, it can be pretty far.

Then there are the Philadelphia Eagles. At 9-1, they appear to be the best team in the NFC and a very good all-around football team. However, even they have appeared to come back down to Earth, even if it’s only slightly.

The fact of the matter is this. The Bucs can turn their ship around and are more than capable of making a run in this NFC field. After all, they have Tom Brady at quarterback, and we’ve all seen him do remarkable things around this time of year. Plus, it looks like mentally he’s as close to all the way back in as he can be all things considered.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers can still make a run. Now that the bye week is over and they’re rested, we just have to see how badly they want it.