The Buccaneers Are Bad, but so is the Rest of the NFC South

Historically speaking, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are just about dead. At best, they are on life support.

Even though we’re only five games into a 17-game season, the Bucs are 1-4 and started 0-4.

Only one team in the history of the league has started 0-4 and made the playoffs, and that was the then-San Diego Chargers in 1992.

Per PlayoffStatus.com, the Bucs have a 10 percent chance to make it to the postseason, with the best chance being as the fourth and final division winner.

Let’s talk more about that. As bad as the Bucs have been so far this season, the rest of the NFC South hasn’t been much better, and therefore, the Bucs are just a game and a half out of first place and could be a half a game out by the end of the week.

In a world where the 81-81 Houston Astros won their division, maybe it isn’t so crazy. The defending division champion Carolina Panthers are in first now, but only because somebody has to be.

Carolina is 2-2, and in one of its losses, it allowed 59 points to the Chicago Bears. In the other one, it coughed away a late fourth-quarter lead to the Cleveland Browns.

The Panthers are coming off an impressive win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday Night Football, which took place before their bye week this past weekend.

But the Panthers have a tough task this week, facing the Philadelphia Eagles on the road, who will be angry after the way they lost to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Remember, they booed Santa Claus in Philadelphia. Things could get rough.

If the Panthers lose to Philly (they are 1.5-point road underdogs per FanDuel) and the Bucs beat the Pittsburgh Steelers at home (Pittsburgh is favored by 2.5 on the road), next week’s game could be for first place depending on what the Atlanta Falcons do.

Atlanta had a big chance this past week to beat the Lamar Jackson-less Baltimore Ravens on Sunday Night Football at home, but ended up losing in overtime.

Even worse, Atlanta’s oft-injured quarterback, Michael Penix Jr., left the game with a rib injury. Although the issue isn’t considered serious at the moment, it’s certainly something to monitor.

Atlanta takes on the Bears and, despite being at home, is a 3.5-point underdog. The next week, Atlanta faces the suddenly-elite Brock Purdy, Buccaneers legend Mike Evans and the San Francisco 49ers at home.

After that, the Falcons come to Raymond James Stadium to face the Bucs, which could be a big deal depending on what each team does.

For as bad as the Bucs have been, the New Orleans Saints haven’t been any better.

After the Saints upset the Ravens in Baltimore (with Lamar), they were 1-1 with three straight games in the Superdome against reasonable opponents in the Las Vegas Raiders, Falcons and Minnesota Vikings. 

New Orleans lost all three, with the last two being by double digits (the Falcons whipped the Saints, 45-24 on Monday Night Football Oct. 5).

So as of now, Carolina is considered the favorite, with a 21% chance to get that fourth spot per PlayoffStatus.com. Atlanta is second at 13%, with the Bucs and Saints neck and neck at 10 percent and 9 percent, respectively.

The NFC South champion finished 8-9 last year. If a similar story is to be told this season, the Bucs just may have a shot.