Bucs Heart Still Beating In Playoff Chase
December 11th, 2018
The optimists around us make the world a better place, so Joe will feed them a hearty breakfast this morning.
Yes, our beloved Buccaneers are alive — but not well — in the hunt for the final NFC Wild Card berth.
Sure, the Bucs certainly would have to win a nightmare matchup against a sledgehammer physical Ravens team in Baltimore on Sunday. Then they’d have to beat arguably the hottest team in the NFL in Dallas. If the Bucs could climb those mountains, then they’d exhale at home against a bad Falcons team.
Those three potential wins would close the Bucs’ season with an 8-8 record, and that actually might be good enough.
The Vikings, after getting beaten down last night in Seattle, hold the final NFC playoff spot at 6-6-1. They close the season at home against Miami, then at rival Detroit and home for the hard hitting Bears. If they can’t win two, that could give the Bucs an opening.
However, blocking the Bucs now are the quarterback-starved Redskins, Eagles and Panthers, who still play the Saints twice. They all sit at 6-7. The Bucs hold the head-to-head tiebreaker edge on the Eagles but not the Skins.
There’s also the Packers ahead of the Bucs at 5-7-1. They play at the Bears on Sunday.
The Giants are at 5-8 and own a tiebreaker edge on Tampa Bay by virtue of beating the Bucs last month.
Again, Joe always must tip his cap to the warm-hearted optimists, especially the innocent young children involved who are still nodding and saying, ‘We can do this.’
Once upon a time, Joe was one of those kids.
December 11th, 2018 at 9:32 am
Glennon is the only player who can make Mike Evans look short…
December 11th, 2018 at 9:34 am
6-10 teams with a qb that cant hit the broad side of the barn on a ladder and the worst OL in pro football and the worst defense in NFL history have no business in a discussion about playoffs
December 11th, 2018 at 9:34 am
Can we make the playoffs at 6-10?
December 11th, 2018 at 9:39 am
koetter can’t coach his way out of a wet paper bag
December 11th, 2018 at 9:40 am
Plenty of time for Jamyth to choke the hope out of fans and staff @ OBP
December 11th, 2018 at 9:41 am
I don’t even watch the Wild Card games…I wait until the Play Offs actually begin
December 11th, 2018 at 9:41 am
this is why that loss to a team you had beat in the Saints, missed FGs and missed assignments on STs and costly penalties (all things that should’ve been fixed by now) as a professional team 12 games in and playing for your playoff lives is inexcusable.
December 11th, 2018 at 9:41 am
Seriously Joe? I know you’re feeding the optimists, but I mean really. Everyone spent the better part of the last day and a half ripping the atrocious play of the O-line and we’re about to face two killer defenses. Let’s please not entertain the playoffs.
December 11th, 2018 at 9:42 am
They won’t win a game. Even Atlanta will beat us. This team can’t win games that matter. It’s that simple. It started all the way back when Gruden was the coach and we haven’t won a meaningful game since. I’d start shouting all the expletives that are going through my head just thinking about this, but what’s the use. We need a culture change from top to bottom. Even the waterboy needs to be a WINNER. It’s that simple. Until that happens, we’re just going to stay frustrated.
December 11th, 2018 at 9:44 am
Bucs lose out leaving no doubt Koetter is done. I hope they’ve already found a replacement
December 11th, 2018 at 9:44 am
playoffs? Playoffs??? PLAYOFFS?!
December 11th, 2018 at 9:47 am
c’mon joe….lol….
you sound sillier than @realist claiming smitty is a good dc and didnt have all the pieces to win….lol….
playoffs wont happen until we get competent coaching at OBP…..
KRIS RICHARD 4 HC!!!!!
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!…#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!…GO BUCS!!!!
December 11th, 2018 at 9:49 am
Joe where would we sit at today if we had won Wednesday? I say #8in wild card race.
December 11th, 2018 at 9:53 am
^^ It would be a SCOOP, El_Buc, if we had won on Wednesday, lol
December 11th, 2018 at 9:58 am
I think I just threw up a little.
December 11th, 2018 at 10:03 am
This is terrible news for the “tank” crowd of losers with a losing culture who want to lose for a better draft position (not necessarily player)…….
December 11th, 2018 at 10:04 am
PLAYOFFS?!?! Are you kidding me? PLAYOFFS?
December 11th, 2018 at 10:09 am
Who needs playoffs when we can win when it really matters- the off season.
December 11th, 2018 at 10:13 am
When I read this caption havin my breakfast, almost choked on a bagel.
PLAYOFFS? Joe stop hittin the pipe so early in the morning!!The only Playoffs these Bucs are gonna see is from their living room couches on TV. PLAYOFFS..You kiddin me?!!!
December 11th, 2018 at 10:16 am
JJV…the bucs always win the offseason according to the local media…paper champs 11 years running….. Things we were told just this off season, the OL is the strength of the team, Barber is a legit NFL starter, 76 is one of the best LT in the game, jameis was connecting w desean on the deep ball, the kicker is a cant miss guy, the secondary is the best it has been under koetter, buckner is an upgrade, ronald jones and vea are 2 of the best picks of teh draft, watch that kappa guy he is going to be the next licht gem
December 11th, 2018 at 10:23 am
glennon is what this team needs!!
December 11th, 2018 at 11:00 am
Oh, please. The Bucs suck. I’m sure it behooves Joe to keep interest, thus clicks, high. The Bucs making the playoffs would be like the Ivy League BB team that makes it into March Madness.
December 11th, 2018 at 11:42 am
Ya Playoffs that’s what we need, my god!
December 11th, 2018 at 11:46 am
Bucs and playoffs don’t deserve to be in the same sentence…unless its about their inept playoff prowess!
One day we will be relevant and in December again!
December 11th, 2018 at 11:50 am
Jamyth could not serve pop corn at the concession stand during the Play Offs without handing the order to the wrong customer…
December 11th, 2018 at 12:02 pm
PLAYOFFS???!?
December 11th, 2018 at 12:13 pm
The Bucs have as much of a chance at the playoffs as I do with Megan Fox!
Hi Megan!
December 11th, 2018 at 12:15 pm
I give the Bucs chances for a playoff spot equal to a snowballs chance in hell.
December 11th, 2018 at 12:33 pm
Great troll job
December 11th, 2018 at 1:13 pm
Dirk could coach for the rest of his life and not make the playoffs. Its obvious he isnt a leader. Luckily this is the last season of this poop show.
December 11th, 2018 at 1:21 pm
UMMM, NewTampaChris- IVY league has an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament sooooooo….
Anyway, I get what you’re saying. We will miss the playoffs by either a half game or a game and IMO, that directly falls on the decisions the coach made during the year. He f-ed around too much…smartest guy in the room syndrome! JMO
December 11th, 2018 at 1:43 pm
Just to put a little more hope into the hearts of those who think this can happen…
I used the ESPN Playoff Machine, set all the victories to default to the home team… from there I changed all the Bucs road games to W’s. That doesn’t get it done. I then went through and changed the Chicago/Vikings game to a Chicago win, and, nope, that gets Carolina in on a tie breaker for shared opponent win percentage… ugh. But, I look at Carolina’s schedule and see, as noted above, they play the Saints twice, so I made the Saints get both those W’s, and that was the magic combo. I didn’t mess with anything for the Giants or Redskins, only the Vikings losing at home vs Chicago and the Panthers losing at home vs the Saints – both are very likely.
With all that said it requires the Bucs going onto the road and beating the Ravens and Cowboys… yeah, sure they will. So it’s all for not.
But if you think the Bucs somehow run the table, and keep in mind while they lost to the Saints it’s very likely the Saints are 14-2 on the year – they are an extremely good team, but if the Bucs can run the table the rest of the tie breakers really aren’t pie in the sky stuff, they’re actually quite likely to happen.
So like they said in Dumb and Dumber… what I’m saying is there’s still a chance…
December 11th, 2018 at 2:07 pm
The heart is beating but the brain is dead. Pull it off life support.
December 11th, 2018 at 2:07 pm
The Dixie chicks were bad the last time they beat us! Don’t forget we can be out coached anytime by any team.
December 11th, 2018 at 2:48 pm
If Winston plays we loose its that simple .
December 11th, 2018 at 3:49 pm
If you wanna crown the saints then crown ’em!! But we let em off the hook!
December 11th, 2018 at 4:32 pm
max
lmao!!!!….you’re right!!!!
#NOEXCUSESIN2018!!…#PRESSURESONTHECOACHES!!!…GO BUCS!!!!
December 11th, 2018 at 5:11 pm
If Donovan Smith and Damar Dotson play we will lose more so than if Winston plays. Quickdrw21
December 11th, 2018 at 9:55 pm
Cmon man wake up with The trifecta of dork Licht and Jameis benchton we are never gonna see a playoff birth. Wake up joe or put down the crack pipe.
December 11th, 2018 at 11:07 pm
We need to win three in a row…two of those on the road. This time of year teams making a run at the playoffs are hitting on all cylinders. We can’t put it all together three weeks in a row. Not happening.