The Panthers face the Bucs in Tampa Bay on Sunday. We break down what the game means for the NFL playoff picture.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers do not control their own destiny to the postseason, but do control their own destiny to get to Week 18. Currently in a tie with the Atlanta Falcons for first place in the NFC South, Tampa is playing for their season in Week 17.
Tampa has the red carpet rolled out with games against the Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints in their final two weeks. They will need some help.
The Bucs and Falcons are tied atop the NFC South, but the Falcons hold the head-to-head tiebreaker. That means that Tampa needs to finish with a better record than Atlanta in order to secure their playoff spot.
Tampa also has an outside shot at the final wild card spot. At 10-7 in a tie with the Washington Commanders, Tampa would win the head-to-head tiebreaker and make the postseason, but they need to win two games and Washington needs to lose two games.
There aren’t any tiebreakers than Tampa is worried about right now since they lose the first tiebreaker to the Falcons. In the wild card, they have a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Washington Commanders and would win the NFC record tiebreaker against the Seahawks and Washington in a three-way tie at 10-7.
