Tampa Bay Buccaneers Clinch First Playoff Berth Since 2007
After an absolutely dominant, 47-7 victory over the Detroit Lions on the road on Saturday, the Buccaneers are playoff-bound for the first time in more than a decade. Tampa Bay ends a 13-year playoff drought, which was the longest active streak of any NFC team.
With a 10-5 record, the Bucs, at least temporarily, climb up into the No. 5 seed in the NFC playoff picture.
The Los Angeles Rams (9-5) will face the Seattle Seahawks (10-4) at 4:25 PM on Sunday: A Seattle win would keep the Bucs in the No. 5 seed entering the final week of the season, while a Rams win would push the Bucs back to No. 6, as Los Angeles owns the tiebreaker.
After an extended stretch where Tampa Bay struggled to move the ball offensively at the start of games, the issue was non-existent against Detroit on Saturday. Quarterback Tom Brady was pulled from the game at halftime after a 348-yard, four-touchdown showing.
Wins like Saturday's won't ever be the norm. The Lions completely reshuffled their already-shortened coaching staff midweek. Their interim head coach Darrell Bevell, who replaced the fired Matt Patricia, and numerous defensive assistants had to stay home due to COVID-19 contact tracing protocols.
Still, the Bucs performed as they were supposed to against the depleted Lions.
Soak it in: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are going to the playoffs.
