Coming into Sunday night's game, one of two things was going to happen. Either the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would upset the Los Angeles Rams and send the NFC Playoff Picture into total chaos, or lie down and allow the Rams to take over the No. 1 seed.
The latter is what ended up happening, and now the Buccaneers have been pushed to the brink.
It's more than just an injury to Baker Mayfield, a blowout loss to a Super Bowl contender that exposed the Bucs as frauds, or the NFC South merchant allegations. Tampa Bay is in serious danger of completely falling out of the playoff picture and could head into Thanksgiving sitting in second place.
Philadelphia lost a stunner to the Cowboys earlier on Sunday, something that raised the stakes for what the Rams were playing for against the Bucs. Had Tampa Bay won, next week's Black Friday game between the Eagles and Bears would have been for control of the No. 1 seed, but instead Tampa Bay bowed out when it came to doing anything interesting.
That may not be all the Bucs bow out of in the coming days after the way things went in Los Angeles,
Updated NFC Playoff Picture after Week 12: Buccaneers are in danger of falling out of the race
Los Angeles lost to Philadelphia earlier in the year on that crazy walk-off blocked field goal, but there's a game separating the two after Sunday. That means Philly's tiebreaker is useless and the Rams now control the No. 1 seed in the NFC -- and look like a team that won't be giving it up easily.
Meanwhile, the Bucs need to bank on the 49ers wanting to hold onto the No. 7 seed in order for Tampa Bay to not fall out of the playoff race and face a truly embarrassing situation.
Here's a look at where things stand after the Buccaneers' disaster in Los Angeles on Sunday night:
Seed | Team | Record |
|---|---|---|
No. 1 | Los Angeles Rams | 9-2 |
No. 2 | Philadelphia Eagles | 8-3 |
No. 3 | Chicago Bears | 8-3 |
No. 4 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 6-5 |
No. 5 | Seattle Seahawks | 8-3 |
No. 6 | Green Bay Packers | 7-3-1 |
No. 7 | San Francisco 49ers | 7-4 |
While the Bucs are still in the playoff picture, they might not be there for much longer. Beyond the ramifications of Baker Mayfield's injury, the Carolina Panthers can sneak into first place with a win over the 49ers on Monday night.
Truthfully, if the Buccaneers are dethroned by the Panthers after a 6-1 start then they don't deserve to be in the playoff picture. We're in the midst of an all-time crash out, one that has been predated by midseason slumps but feels ten times worse than all of those combined.
That being said, those previous midseason slumps could tell the story of how Tampa Bay navigates out of this mess. In each of the last two seasons the Bucs crated in the middle of the year but rebounded to both win the division and make the playoffs.
After Sunday night the Bucs' schedule softens significantly, with the only team they play with a winning record being the Panthers. By the time that game arrives in December, Carolina could be back in that column of losing teams, which opens up a clear path for the Bucs to get back on track.
That's asking a lot, though, as this simply isn't a position the team should be in. It's more than just bad coaching and injuries that have led to this point, it's a total system failure in which no part of the locker room is safe from blame.