It's pretty obvious that things aren't exactly going well for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers right now. Not only has the team fallen into a 1-3 slump that threatens to get even deeper over the next two weeks, but the injuries are starting to pile up.
Chris Godwin and SirVocea Dennis are out for the season while Mike Evans won't return until after the bye week in November. Things are getting dire for the Bucs, but for as bad as things seem the season is far from being over.
Back-to-back losses aren't ideal, especially when heading into matchups against Kansas City and San Francisco. Still, Tampa Bay is soon about to exit its most challenging stretch of the schedule and has plenty of time to pick itself up off the mat.
Latest Tampa Bay Buccaneers playoff odds ahead of MNF vs. Chiefs
The Athletic has started putting together its playoff projection probability chart, and it's unsurprisingly not looking great for the Bucs. Tampa Bay's playoff chances sit at just 30 percent, which putes even more pressure on an already massive Monday night game against the Chiefs.
Chances to Make Playoffs | Chances to Win NFC South |
|---|---|
30% | 14% |
Still, we need to remember that we're still in the first half of the season and the Bucs are in the middle of what is by far the most difficult part of their schedule. The combined record of the teams Tampa Bay has played is 32-14, not counting the Saints who are 2-6 and the only bad team the Bucs have faced.
It's easy to get bogged down in how bad things have been over the last few weeks, but let's not forget that Tampa Bay has wins over the Commanders, Lions, and Eagles which continue to age like fine wine as the season goes on.
Of course, it's a week-to-week league and the Bucs can't afford to continue trending in the wrong direction, but these next two games will not define their season. Heading into the bye week 4-6 and on a four game losing streak is hardly ideal but it's not the end of the world either.
After the bye Tampa Bay plays the Giants, Panthers, and Raiders which could get them to 7-6 and right back on track. The NFC is competitive, but the Bucs have head-to-head tiebreakers over Washington, Detroit, and Philadelphia and could still pass the Falcons and negate not having the tiebreaker there.
Things need to get better, but things aren't nearly as gloom-and-doom as they might seem.
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