TB Buccaneers Are Suddenly Playoff Contenders - Is A Major Upset On The Cards?

Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans, hold your breath. Just over a week ago, it seemed like the Bucs playoff hopes were hanging by a thread after losing five of their last six games. However, their stunning victory in Week 12 has opened up fresh opportunities for Todd Bowles side to make up for lost ground and storm into the playoff reckoning.

Going into Week 12, the Buccaneers dire form was threatening to undermine their season, which had promised so much at the start. With five losses in six games weighing heavily on the players, morale must have been at an all-time low. Now though, after that crucial win, some players have suggested that their backs-to-the-wall style of football may have just been the catalyst needed to spur them on for the remainder of the season.

As it stands, the Buccaneers are clinging onto a seed in the playoffs by their fingernails. However, having overcome the first hurdle in Week 12, the possibility of making the playoffs no longer seems like an impossible task - it may have just become a tangible goal. The team have earned themselves a slender glimmer of hope that could power them through the treacherous NFL landscape for the remainder of the season.

Their schedule from now until the end of the season remains tight and will certainly demand that the team operate at the highest level possible if they want to dream of pulling off the unthinkable - overcoming the odds and sneaking into a top seven seed position.

Playing the Seattle Seahawks in Week 10 could be tricky - it certainly was back then for a Bucs team that was still on life support. Heading into their next fixtures however, they may now find a renewed sense of purpose that they maybe lacked when their season was on the line only a month ago. Perhaps, this revitalization may prove enough to push the Bucs forward and over the line into a potential playoff run, just when the doubters thought all hope was lost.

The NFC remains densely packed as we head down the stretch of what is set to be a fascinating and wide-open playoff chase. At present, there are three teams bunched together closely just above Tampa Bay, all aiming to secure a seed that could prove critical in the post-season.

With two routes available to possible playoffs, the Bucs must indeed concentrate on one game at a time and ensure they remain locked in to maximise the second half of the remaining schedule. Given the current dynamics, its difficult to separate one from another and perhaps their immediate prospects of securing a top seven position may depend mainly on the results of others.

But despite lingering reservations among the fans, one could argue, this season's version of Tampa Bay is truly battle-hardened, with many of its members experiencing significant on-the-field turbulence throughout the year. As veteran teams so often do in the pressure-filled environment of the NFL, the Buccaneers are pulling out every trick in the book to jockey for favourable position as well as the winningest hand.