We've seen the Tampa Bay Buccaneers do some incredible things this season, but unfortunately they seem to also be masters of their own demise.
Despite starting the season 6-1, the Bucs have cratered and fallen into yet another midseason coma. Unlike previous years, though, they've yet to come out of it and now enter the home stretch of the season playing for their playoff lives.
The good news is that even with how hard the team fell off, the Bucs still control their own destiny. Carolina's loss to New Orleans last Sunday gave Tampa Bay a new lease on life that nobody was expecting, and it's a second chance the team can't afford to waste.
For as bad as things have gone since mid-October, the Bucs not only have a clear path to the playoffs but they can take a massive step toward clinching a spot this week.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers playoff clinching scenarios in Week 16
While the Bucs can't clinch a spot this Sunday, they can move the Doomsday clock on everyone else in the NFC South one more minute closer to midnight.
The math from here on out is simple: Tampa Bay needs to win two of its last three games to clinch the division. Those wins don't both have to come against the Panthers, but the Bucs have to win at least one of the remaining two games they have against Carolina.
That means a loss to Carolina in Week 16 isn't a fatal blow, but it sets the team back and fumbles away control of the division.
If the Bucs lose to the Panthers on Sunday, they'll need to beat both the Dolphins next week and then the Panthers in Week 18 in order to make the playoffs. There's even a scenario that exists where the Bucs can lose to the Dolphins and the Panthers and still back into the playoffs at 8-9 -- although nobody would feel great about that.
Buccaneers can outright clinch the NFC South if:
- Buccaneers win their next two games
This is the ideal scenario since it means a banged up Bucs team can rest its starters in Week 18 and get ready for what will likely be a Wild Card game against either Seattle or Los Angeles.
Buccaneers can still clinch the NFC South with a loss to Panthers in Week 16 if:
- Buccaneers beat the Dolphins next week
- Panthers lose to the Seahawks next week
- Tampa Bay beats Carolina in Week 18
This is less ideal, but it would still mean winning the division with a winning record and at least faking some respectability.
Buccaneers can still clinch NFC South with an 8-9 record if:
- Panthers lose to Seahawks, and Bucs once
- Bucs lose to Falcons and Dolphins, but beat the Panthers once
This one is the nightmare, as it would mean the Bucs make the playoffs and win the division but do so under the most dire circumstances. Nothing about this would feel good, although a division title is still a division title, even if it feels drenched in disappointment in how it came about.