Mike Evans Credit: Photo via Tori Richman/Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The pitchforks have been grabbed. The “Fire Todd Bowles” posts are out there. And yet, there’s still a very real possibility the Bucs make the playoffs, either as a Wild Card team or as champions of the NFC South.

You might be looking at the team’s recent performances and think that’s bananas.
Crazy. Absolute nonsense.

But the Bucs are getting some much-needed help back this week in star receiver Mike Evans, cornerback Jamel Dean, and a hopefully-healthy Zyon McCollum, as well.

Plus, the remainder of Tampa Bay’s season is an absolute cake walk. In fact, it’s the one of the easiest remaining schedules in the NFL.

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So, sure, the Bucs are 4-6, but with the Falcons losing this past week to the New Orleans Saints, and Atlanta’s remaining opponents including brutal matchups like the Minnesota Vikings (8-2) and the upstart, 7-4, Washington Commanders (both of which are playing for division matchups), the division is still absolutely in play.

So much so that Pro Football Network even gave the Bucs better odds to make the playoffs than those stinky Dirty Birds.

Why would that be? Well, the Bucs have the good fortune of playing this week against the New York Giants, who recently benched starting quarterback Daniel Jones in favor of fan favorite, but not-great, NFL player Tommy DeVito.

After this week the Bucs get another pair of teams competing for the first overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft: the Carolina Panthers (3-7) and the Las Vegas Raiders (2-8).

And yes, next month, Tampa Bay gets a tough matchup against star QB Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers, who will be competing for a Wild Card spot of their own in the AFC, so we can say that might be a loss.

Then the Bucs finish out the season against the struggling Dallas Cowboys, who are without starting quarterback Dak Prescott for the rest of the season, and another matchup with the middling Panthers.

Let’s say Tampa Bay automatically loses to the Chargers, which is not a given, and wins all of its other games, which should be a given, otherwise they don’t deserve to be in the playoffs anyways and Bowles will likely be fired.

Then the Bucs end up with a 10-7 record, more than good enough to make the playoffs and probably steal the division from the Falcons. So fear not, creamsicle nation. The team has looked quite bad at times this year, especially defensively, but it won’t be facing any more Baltimore Ravens-level offenses for the rest of the year.

Because no offense to any of their remaining opponents, but they’re not exactly led by Lamar Jackson. Plus, even if the Bucs manage to screw the rest of this season up, it could be worse. They could be the Rays.

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