NFC South Power Rankings heading into Week 4

The Bucs took a tough loss in Week 3, but did it push them out of the top spot?

Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Baker Mayfield
Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Baker Mayfield | Julio Aguilar/GettyImages
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3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-1)

Week 3 was a sad reality check for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. At this point in the season, at 2-1, the Bucs have two wins over a pair of teams that have not won a game and a loss to one of the league's best teams. That makes them incredibly difficult to judge. Maybe, we were too quick to put the Bucs atop our power rankings last week.

Tampa's offense is in a similar spot, overall, compared to the rest of the division. All four NFC South teams are in the bottom half of the league, and only 30 yards per game separates them. Defensively, though, the Bucs are statistically the worst in the division, giving up over 359 yards of offense per game.

This coming week will tell us a lot about Tampa's offense and whether or not it has actually turned a corner. They struggled against Philadelphia in Week 3, and now face a tough Saints defense in Week 4. Could their 2-0 start have been simply a mirage? Was it dumb luck that the Bucs were able to face two winless teams early on?

Hopefully, for Tampa's sake, they can turn this around and prove that the Baker Mayfield experiment is, in fact, working out in their favor.

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