The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-7) still have a one-game lead over the Atlanta Falcons (5-8) and Carolina Panthers (5-8) in the NFC South but if the Panthers win out over their final four games, they’ll win the division and beat Tampa to a playoff spot based on tie-breakers
Last Updated: 13/12/22 4:36pm
A disconsolate Tom Brady watches on during the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 35-7 loss to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday
Tom Brady has an NFL-record seven Super Bowl wins over his incredible two-decade long career, but through 14 weeks of the 2022 season he and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have as many losses as the 45-year-old quarterback has rings.
The Buccaneers are a disappointing 6-7 on the season, coming off the back of a 35-7 drubbing at the hands of the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday – and to a rookie QB, Brock Purdy, making his first career NFL start.
The Bucs won the Super Bowl in Brady’s first season with the team, in 2020, finishing the regular season 11-5, while a 13-4 record last season took them to the division round of the playoffs before being beaten by eventual champs the Los Angeles Rams.
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Highlights of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers against the San Francisco 49ers from Week 14 of the NFL season
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Debating where it has all gone wrong for the team in 2022, NFL writer Myles Simmons said on Monday’s Pro Football Talk (Sky Sports NFL, weekdays, 6pm) that the team still has enough talent held over from those two most recent campaigns to be doing better.
“I don’t know what it is with the Bucs?” he said. “Yes, Tom Brady is older and there are some other things going on there, I guess; you can point to the offensive line – they’ve had injuries and this and that.
“But are we going to act like the Buccaneers aren’t talented? Are we going to act like the core of that team is all that different this year? I don’t feel like it is.”
PFT presenter Mike Florio added: “You’re preaching to the choir. I keep thinking that at some point they’re going to wake up, that there’s going to be a point where Brady morphs into superhero mode.
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A look at how Tom Brady threw two touchdown passes inside the final three minutes in a stunning comeback win over the Saints
“We saw it with the final two drives [in the win over the New Orleans Saints] on Monday night [in Week 13]. They didn’t get the chance to do it [against the 49ers] because they were getting blown off the field.
“Get him in a spot where he takes on that aura, the years just melt away.
“I still think they’re the team that are most likely to win the [NFC South] division, and the team most likely to create some havoc in the playoffs… but they are dancing dangerously close to the line of blowing it.”
“I like chaos and that would be chaos.”
Week 15: vs Cincinnati Bengals (9-4); Week 16: @ Arizona Cardinals (4-9); Week 17: vs Carolina Panthers (5-8); Week 18: @ Atlanta Falcons (4-8)
The Buccaneers still have a one-game lead over the Atlanta Falcons (5-8) and Carolina Panthers (5-8) but, the way the schedule falls and due to tie-breakers between the teams, if the Panthers win out over their final four games, they’ll win the division and beat Tampa Bay to a playoff spot. The Falcons would need to win out and hope other results went their way.
The Bucs will play both teams down the stretch, starting by hosting the Panthers, on New Year’s Day, on the penultimate week of the regular season before closing out on the road in Atlanta in Week 18.
The Panthers won their first meeting against the Bucs 21-3 back in Week Seven, while the Falcons were beaten 21-15 a fortnight prior.
Week 15: vs Pittsburgh Steelers (5-8); Week 16: vs Detroit Lions (6-7); Week 17: @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-7); Week 18: @ New Orleans Saints (4-9)
Week 15: @ New Orleans Saints (4-9); Week 16: @ Baltimore Ravens (9-4); Week 17: vs Arizona Cardinals (4-9); Week 18: vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-7)
Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles said after his team’s latest loss that it’s time for his players to “decide what kind of team we want to be.”
“We can’t be one set of Bucs [one week] and then another set of Bucs,” Bowles said. “It has to mean something.
“We have a one-game [division] lead with four games to go. Either we want it or we don’t.
“It’s about doing the right things and following through and finishing it up. The talking part is kind of over. It’s kind of about producing at this point in time.”
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