After getting pushed to the brink just a month ago, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are now just three games away from clinching their fifth straight trip to the playoffs. It's been an incredible turnaround not only this season but in general for a franchise that has often been an afterthought in the larger conversation.
Tampa Bay is in control of the No. 3 seed and remains in first place in the NFC South even after a victory by Atlanta on Sunday. The Falcons own the tiebreaker over the Bucs, but there's enough of a cushion where all that needs to happen is Tampa Bay winning out and they'll win the division.
For that to happen, the Bucs will need to avoid embarrassment on national television on Sunday night.
Dallas is not a good team, but the circumstances are ripe for the kind of trap game that the Bucs usually find a way to fall into. In no world should a team that dropped 40-points on the No. 1 scoring defense in the NFL last week get beat by Cooper Rush, but Bucs fans know all too well that nothing is easy with this team.
Making matters even more difficult is the fact that Tampa Bay will be without a few key players on Sunday night.
Full inactives list for Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 16 vs. Cowboys
Antoine Winfield Jr. hasn't played since the first half of the Week 14 win over the Raiders, leaving before halftime with a knee injury. It's still unclear how serious the injury is, as the Bucs have been oddly mum about the details, but whatever it is has been bad enough to keep him out for a second straight week.
Cade Otton was also ruled out ahead of Sunday, as he's also dealing with a knee injury. There was some hope that he'd be able to play, as Otton was initially a gametime decision but the team downgraded him to out on Saturday night.
Here's who won't be suiting up for the Buccaneers tonight against the Cowboys:
Player | Position | Injury |
|---|---|---|
Antoine Winfield Jr. | S | Knee |
Cade Otton | TE | Knee |
K.J. Britt | LB | Ankle |
Royce Newman | OL | Healthy Scratch |
Jose Ramirez | LB | Healthy Scratch |
Earnest Brown IV | DL | Healthy Scratch |
Bucky Irving popped up on the injury report last week but ended up playing, and it seems the most electric rookie this side of Jayden Daniels will be ready for his SNF closeup. Both Baker Mayfield missed practice with a knee injury but is going to play, as will Mike Evans who has been a name to watch ever since he returned from a hamstring injury after the bye week.
Evans is just 251 yards away from reaching 1,000 yards for an 11th consecutive season, a mark that Baker has noted he badly wants to get his teammate to. Both of those guys being healthy, with the ability to have Bucky on the field causing chaos, bodes well for the total getting cut into.
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