Remember that stretch of the season against elite teams where the Bucs lost a bunch of games and everyone said the world was falling?

Yeah, me neither, but the Bucs were able to put those memories even further in the rearview mirror with a dominant 40-17 effort on the road against the now 8-6 Chargers. The win clearly showed first year Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh that things are a bit different in the NFL, especially when you don’t have all the opposing team’s signals on your playsheet (hey, had to get one Michigan dig in).

Baker Mayfield managed to put together an elite game despite a couple of, ahem, ill-advised throws in the 1st half, one an interception and the other broken up by Mike Evans.

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Speaking of Evans, he furthered his Hall of Fame case with another legendary performance, hauling in 9 catches for 159 yards, with 2 of those receptions going for 6.

Baker’s other TDs went to rookie Jalen McMillan, who had 2 TD catches, and Rachaad White, who took a little dump off to the house to clinch the game in the 4th quarter.

The defense, much maligned throughout the season, stepped up and had a big game, forcing Chargers QB Justin Herbert into some uncomfortable situations with some of the more exotic pressure looks you’ll ever see, leading to a Herbert interception and 3 sacks for the game.

Without getting too far ahead of ourselves, the Bucs have a pretty favorable group of remaining opponents. Since starter Derek Carr is potentially out for the season with a left hand fracture, the New Orleans Saints are likely to be led by rookie QB Spencer Rattler, who looked rough in the first matchup between the Bucs and the boys from the Big Easy.

The Dallas Cowboys also have a backup QB under center, with Cooper Rush taking snaps for Dak Prescott, and have struggled to look competitive on offense due to the change.

The Panthers, well, they’re still the Panthers, as they struggled against those Cowboys this past Sunday in their 30-14 loss in Dallas.

So things are looking pretty darn good for the Bucs; they even have a loss in the tank to be honest, as the Chargers game was the one they were likely to lose, and yet they came out with their heads on fire.

And now they look like they can be NFC South champs. Again.

Fire those damn cannons. It’s good to be a Bucs fan.

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This article appears in Dec 12-18, 2024.