Buccaneers' playoff chances get a huge boost after 30-7 win over Giants
By Josh Hill
Just a few days ago the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were still licking their wounds after a brutal four game stretch that saw the team lose four straight games by slim margins. In the span of an afternoon, though, the tide started to turn just like fans were hoping it might.
Tampa Bay is entering the softest part of its schedule after being battered by the hardest. After playing the Ravens, Chiefs, and 49ers the Bucs get the Panthers and Raiders after obliterating the Giants. Everyone was hoping the Bucs would come out of the bye week ready to start turning things around and so far that seems to be exactly the case.
It sets up a perfect path to the playoffs, one that is still going to require some work but got a lot clearer after Sunday.
Updated NFC Wild Card Standings and playoff picture after Week 12
Here's what the playoff picture looks like after everything that happened on Sunday:
Playoff Seed | Team | Record |
|---|---|---|
No. 1 | Detroit Lions | 10-1 |
No. 2 | Philadelphia Eagles | 8-2 |
No. 3 | Seattle Seahawks | 6-5 |
No. 4 | Atlanta Falcons | 6-5 |
No. 5 | Minnesota Vikings | 9-2 |
No. 6 | Green Bay Packers | 8-3 |
No. 7 | Washington Commanders | 7-5 |
NFC Wild Card Standings
- No. 6 Seed: Green Bay Packers (8-3)
- No. 7 Seed: Washington Commanders (7-5)
- 8th: Arizona Cardinals (6-5)
- 9th: Los Angeles Rams (5-6)
- 10th: San Francisco 49ers (5-6)
- 11th: Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-6)
Right now the Wild Card Weekend matchups would look like this:
- (2) Philadelphia Eagles vs. (7) Washington Commanders
- (3) Seattle Seahawks vs. (6) Green Bay Packers
- (4) Atlanta Falcons vs. (5) Minnesota Vikings
The Bucs are eying two different paths into that picture, the easiest of which is still winning the NFC South. Tampa Bay trails Atlanta by two games thanks to not owning the tiebreaker but the stars are aligning for a change at the top in a few weeks.
Atlanta gets back-to-back games against the Chargers and Vikings, two of the best teams in the league that are also fighting hard for their own playoff positioning. Meanwhile the Bucs continue their magical tour through the softest part of the schedule with games against the Panthers and Raiders up next. Both of those are potential trap games, but if the Bucs play like they did on Sunday against the Giants then there's no reason they shouldn't win both.
If that happens, and the Falcons lose to Minnesota and Los Angeles, then the Bucs would be back in first place in the NFC South.
Tampa Bay's other path to the playoffs is through the Wild Card, which got a little clearer thanks to the Commanders losing. The Bucs own the head-to-head tiebreaker over Washington which means they would flip spots if they end up with the same record.
It wasn't that long ago the season looked to be lost but Sunday is a reminder that there's still plenty of football left to play and the Bucs are far from out of the hunt.
More Tampa Bay Buccaneers news and rumors
feed