God help the NFC if the Buccaneers do this.
I, like many other football fans, have been thoroughly enjoying the New York Times Playoff Predictor. If you aren’t aware of it, it is a free tool that allows you to see the best chance for your team to make the playoffs. It predicts it based on the games your team plays, but you can also look at it for other teams. It is pretty cool. And when I was messing with it, I found out you can predict other scenarios, including the chance of getting a certain seed in the NFC. Where I was shocked to learn the Bucs are still in play for the 3rd seed.
To start with the obvious, the Bucs would have to win out. The Lions are the team that would be fighting for the 3rd seed as they already have 10 wins. So, to tie them, the Bucs have to win against the Jaguars, Saints, and Panthers. I do think all of these games are winnable, but the Jaguars and Saints aren’t exactly pushovers. But both are definitely flawed.
In that vein, Bucs fans have to become the biggest Vikings fans ever if they want that 3rd seed. For the Bucs to have any shot at that prized 3rd seed, the Vikings have to win every game. Which is far less likely as they play the Lions twice. In essence, the Vikings would have to take over the NFC North. If the Vikings also win out, they would retake the North at 10-7 due to them having more divisional wins. Initially I was very confused about how this worked. My thinking was that it didn’t make sense that the Bucs would usurp the Lions with the same record since the Lions already beat the Bucs. However, what I failed to realize is that the Vikings can still win the division. And since the Bucs beat the vikings what feels like 50 years ago, they have the tie-breaker against them.
The reason that this matters is that there is a very good chance the Bucs will either face the Cowboys or Eagles as the 5th seed. I really don’t like that, even if the Eagles haven’t looked great recently. However, if this scenario comes to fruition, the Bucs would face the Lions again at home. I know we already lost to them, but I like the Bucs chances a lot more against the Motor City Kitties. Especially with how they have looked recently. But the Bucs have to focus on their own schedule. The Falcons and Saints still have a shot at the South if the Bucs drop a game. I would however be nice to see the Buccaneers have a slightly easier opponent, on paper at least.
Make sure you check out Devin’s blog at cannoncrunch.wordpress.com.
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