Why winning hurts the Buccaneers more than losing the NFC South
By Rob Leeds
The Buccaneers might still be in control of the NFC South, but that doesn’t mean that winning the division is a good thing.
The Buccaneers are still playing like one of the worst teams in the NFL after dropping a game against the Bengals after being up 17 points in the first half.
The offense predictably died off when Todd Bowles and company decided to get a bit more conservative with the game plan to try to foolishly eat the clock, and it is also fair to say that execution fell off a cliff for everyone, especially Tom Brady.
The Bucs are a bad team. Perhaps they are a terrible team if this season is any indication.
However, Tampa is still in first place in the NFC South.
Yes, somehow this team is on pace to host a playoff game. The NFL is a wild place.
As interesting as it would be to win so few games and still add a banner to the collection (a banner that means nothing, for what its worth), the Bucs don’t move forward by winning the worst division in football by virtue of being slightly less bad than three of the worst teams in the league.
Winning could keep the Bucs stuck in Purgatory with Todd Bowles, a weak coaching staff, and a few players that are over the hill. Losing could lead to positive change.
If you still think the Buccaneers have a shot of winning the Super Bowl, hats off to you and your impressive optimism. We at The Pewter Plank have a different view.
While there is an outside chance that everything changes because this is a sports situation, the odds are low that Tampa does anything other than flame out in the first round. Still, this is a bit of an accomplishment for such a bad team in the historical scope on paper, and it might trick ownership into staying put.
Losing could help rid Tampa of Todd Bowles, Byron Leftwich, and a good chunk of the rest of the staff that needs to go. The Bucs would also get a better pick, which, even with the long odds on finding a hit, is still better than a meaningless division title.
The Bucs are better off losing. As it stands, that’s what it looks like we’re going to get.
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