With the season coming to its half way mark for the Bucs this weekend, a 2-5 mark is not what any player or fan had envisioned. That being said, reaching the playoffs after such an abysmal start is not entirely unheard of in the NFL.
The most memorable team to start 2-5 then make the playoffs would have to be Tim Tebow leading the Denver Broncos back in 2011. That is the only team to win a playoff game after reaching the postseason. The Tebow to Thomas catch and run, still stands as one of the great playoff finishes in the modern NFL era. Robert Ayers was on that Broncos team, therefore you can be sure he is offering his fair share of it can be done in the locker room.
The Houston Texans also pulled off the feat back in 2015 before falling to the Chiefs who started their season 1-5 before ripping off 10 straight wins.Back in the 2010 season the San Diego Chargers clawed back to a 9-7 record, but failed to qualify for the playoffs.
There have been two other occurrences where teams managed to fight back to a .500 record at 8-8 with neither making the playoffs.
Statistics, however, do not favor the Bucs as most teams who have such a rough start; 42 in the past decade, average a win total of six wins in a season. With a majority of our division games still ahead of us and a group of players who have the talent to win.
We as fans can only hope that our beloved Bucs can buck the trend and become one of those fairy tale finish teams.
