While the Tampa Bay Buccaneers didn't play a single down on Sunday afternoon, they might have come away the biggest potential winners.
The week started with the New Orleans Saints getting thrown into an active volcano by the Denver Broncos, a loss that might have melted their chances to hang near the top of the NFC South. More importantly, the Atlanta Falcons got drop-kicked by the Seattle Seahawks, a loss that now puts even more pressure on the Bucs heading into a Monday Night Football showdown with the Baltimore Ravens.
It was already going to be a huge game from a measuring stick perspective, but there's now more on the line than simply proving that Tampa Bay can hang with a Super Bowl contender.
Buccaneers can take over first place in the NFC South with a win on Monday night
With Atlanta losing on Sunday, the Buccaneers can move into first place in the NFC South with a win over the Ravens. It raises the stakes enormously, but should create a situation where the team answers the bell the way they seem capable of doing.
So far through the first six games, Tampa Bay has managed to go 4-2 without most of its best players on defense being fully healthy. Had Antoine Winfield Jr. been healthy for the Week 5 loss to the Falcons, chances are things might have ended differently.
The same goes for the offensive side as well. Tampa Bay had been without Luke Goedeke for every game other than the season opener, and it's no surprise that the offense exploded once he returned. For the first time since Week 1, the Bucs will have Graham Barton and Goedeke healthy and it couldn't come at a better time.
Baltimore's defense is one of the best in the league, but Tampa Bay's run game has finally started to wake up after a two-year slumber. Bucky Irving and Sean Tucker steamrolled the Saints last week, and while it's not realistic to expect another 200-plus yard performance, the way the Bucs are running the ball combined with getting two of their best offensive linemen back bodes well for what Liam Coen can cook up.
Monday night's game was already huge, but things couldn't have fallen into place for Tampa Bay better than it did on Sunday afternoon. If the Bucs can find a way to get a win, they'll have gone from falling behind Atlanta two weeks ago to being a week away from potentially putting two games of distance between them and the Falcons.
Tampa Bay got a ton of help on Sunday, and now the Bucs need to take care of their end on Monday.
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