An embarrassing loss on Thursday night knocked the Tampa Bay Buccaneers out of first place in the NFC South and out of the playoff picture. Mike Evans left the field early in disgust, Todd Bowles dropped a seemingly endless stream of expletives in his postgame press conference and it felt like the bottom had finally fallen out.
Not so fast, my friend.
What the Bucs needed was for the Saints to somehow pull off an upset win over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday to negate the Thursday night disaster. That's exactly what happened, and all of a sudden, Tampa Bay has a new lease on life.
For the time being, the Bucs are back in first place and have reclaimed the No. 4 seed in the NFC playoff picture. It's a stunning stroke of luck, but one that the team can't afford to waste.
Buccaneers have a chance to totally redeem themselves...again
Just like Dumb and Dumber, Bucs fans were stuck thinking that the team couldn't sink any lower. A loss to the Saints on Sunday, followed by a blown 14-point lead to the Falcons a few days later, felt like rock bottom.
But just when it seemed all was lost, this golden opportunity to fully redeem themselves have fallen into Tampa Bay's lap.
The math is simple: if the Bucs win their next two games, they clinch the NFC South. More than that, they have chance to wash the bitter taste of yet another slump out of their mouths and get back on track at exactly the right time.
Thursday was the first time that Mike Evans, Jalen McMillan, Emeka Egbuka, and Bucky Irving were all on the field together at the same time. It was a little messy, but at times the offense showed what it could look like if everything is firing on all cylinders.
What better time for the Bucs to hit that groove than against the Panthers next week?
It's true that Tampa Bay hasn't exactly looked like a playoff team recently, but neither has Carolina. The Panthers failed to beat the Saints to pull ahead in the NFC South -- just like the Bucs. The playing field is a lot more even than it might have felt a few days ago, and if players are as mad as they made it seem after the loss to Atlanta then they have a perfect chance to prove that next Sunday.