Bucs Win The BYE!!!

Err...what, you say? How in the hell can the Bucs win a BYE week? Simple. Everyone that stands in the way of the Bucs getting into the playoffs lost today. The Falcons beat the Panthers, dropping the kitties to 4-5. The Rams beat the Saints, ending that 4 game win streak, and putting the Saints at 4-5. The Lions (the other kitties) lost to the Cardinals, slipping to 6-3. The Redskins lost to the Eagles to slide to 5-4. And the Giants lost to the Cowboys to fall back to 6-3.

The biggest wild card threats are the Lions, Giants, Cardinals, and Redskins (and possibly the Eagles). While the Lions will currently hold a tie-breaker on the Bucs, and the Giants don't play us (neither do the Eagles if they become a factor), the Cardinals are two games behind the Bucs due to the tie-breaker edge with our win over them, and we play the Redskins. The only other challengers are within our division. In essence, the Bucs have pretty solid control over their destiny. They firmly control their division fortunes, which is an automatic playoff berth. They have control over the Cardinals (though not the Seahawks, whom I think will win that division anyways). And a win over the Redskins gives them control on that front as well. Essentially, this means that the Bucs' odds of being able to make a wild card berth if they somehow fail to win the division, have greatly improved today.

With the Giants playing the Lions next week, one of them is going to lose and give them a fourth loss. The Redskins are playing at Dallas, and, barring an upset, I just don't see the Redskins winning that game, and that would be 5 losses on them. The Panthers play Green Bay next Sunday as well. That could put the Panthers 3 full games behind us (due to our win over them). Then the following week Philly plays the Pats (loss there for the Eagles). And then Green Bay plays Detroit, we play the Skins, and the Saints and Panthers clash. By then, we will have a very good idea of where the Bucs sit. With a Bucs win against the Falcons and Redskins, the Bucs could be both firmly in control of the NFC South, but they could also be in the thick of a wild card berth as a back-up. In either case, 4 more wins is looking like a good shot at the playoffs, and 5 more should very well do it. Now let's hope the Bucs come out this week and take care of business and beat the Falcons. Losing this game would hurt a lot.