The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will host the Atlanta Falcons tonight in a Week 15 showdown that will have massive implications in the NFC South. The Falcons were officially eliminated from playoff contention last week and will try to play spoiler to a Bucs squad that is under a bit of pressure heading into this game.
Tampa has lost four of its last five contests and has seen its once comfortable lead atop the division wither away over the past month. The Bucs’ quest for a fifth-straight division title will now be a dogfight the rest of the way, but the offense is at least getting a major reinforcement for the home stretch with Mike Evans returning from injured reserve.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers playoff picture
The Buccaneers enter Week 15 sharing the same record with the Panthers atop the NFC South at 7-6, but have the tiebreaker edge due to a better record against common opponents. They’d maintain their edge with a win tonight, but could potentially fall behind a full game with a loss and a Carolina victory over New Orleans this Sunday.
Both of their head-to-head games are coming up in Week 16 and Week 18, respectively, so it very important for the Bucs to handle business ahead of those season-defining showdowns.
The Buccaneers currently own the No. 4 seed in the NFC standings, meaning they would host the No. 5 Seahawks in the NFC Wild Card round if the season were to end today. They’d switch spots with the Panthers at No. 9 with a loss tonight, but would be propelled right back up to No. 4 if the Panthers were to lose their matchup with the Saints on Sunday.
It’s still possible for the Bucs to move up in the NFC standings down the stretch, but they’re effectively two games behind the Eagles for the No. 3 seed due to Philly owning the direct head-to-head tiebreaker. A loss tonight would also officially eliminate Tampa Bay from one-seed contention, though the likelihood of that happening was already slim.
As mentioned before, a victory would allow the for the Bucs to maintain their common-opponent tiebreaker edge against the Panthers before the two teams actually meet on the field for the first time this season. They could pick up another common-opponent victory against the Dolphins in Week 17 and that’s another win that Tampa would like to have to have in its back pocket should it split against Carolina and finish the year with identical overall and division records.
