There are soft schedules, and then there are cotton-ball, baby-bunny-soft schedules. The Bucs’ have the latter to close the 2024 season.

Retired Pro Bowl quarterback Alex Smith was on SiriusXM NFL Radio today talking with his co-host about how the Bucs play “five of their last eight [games] against 2-win football teams.”

It’s a stunning reality.

And it’s why Smith thinks the Bucs (4-5) are a likely playoff team, he said, especially if Tampa Bay can find a “W” at home Sunday against the 49ers before the Bucs’ bye week.

Like every former QB with working eyes, Smith sees Baker Mayfield playing very well and a Bucs team with enough offense to knock off the NFL’s basement clubs routinely, especially with Mike Evans slated to return.

Consider that the Bucs’ final three games are against the sinking Cowboys (3-5), with Dak Prescott now facing hamstring surgery, the slimy Saints (2-7) in tanking mode, and the Panthers (2-7).

What a cupcake finish!

Before that, it’s the two-win Giants. They rank last in the NFL in scoring at 15.4 points per game. Also on the schedule is the two-win Raiders, another game against the Panthers, and a trip to visit a tough Chargers team.

To make the scene more fun, the Raiders come to Tampa in December for a 1 p.m. game following a trip to Kansas City. That’s a bad combination for a west coast team. Bucco Bruce Arians himself was on Barstool Gambling last week talking about how players on bad teams routinely check out around Thanksgiving.

If the Bucs stay relatively healthy and can’t find six more wins on their schedule, then the Bucs’ coaching staff will deserve the blinding spotlight that will descend upon it.

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