Who Will Buccaneers Face in NFL Playoffs Wild Card Round?
For the first time ever the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have earned back-to-back NFC South Division titles after defeating the Carolina Panthers, 30-24.
That means the Bucs will host a playoff game, which is good news.
The bad news is that with an 8-8 record heading into Week 18 there's no way for Tampa Bay to move up to the third seed.
READ MORE: Buccaneers Clinch NFC South
And that's because each of the other three division winners has - or will have in the case of the NFC East that has yet to be decided - 12 or more wins.
Not a gap that can be filled in one week.
Entering the postseason as the fourth seed means the only way the Buccaneers host a second playoff game is if both the second and third-seed San Francisco 49ers and Minnesota Vikings lose in the Wild Card Round.
If that happened, then the Bucs would host the sixth-seed New York Giants in the Divisional Round.
Of course, we're getting ahead of ourselves.
Before worrying about Tampa Bay hosting two playoff games, they need to win one.
And there are two teams trying to avoid a mid-January trip to Florida.
They are the Dallas Cowboys and the Philadelphia Eagles.
For many reasons, these two teams don't want to visit the Buccaneers.
First of all, is the fact that whichever team does is the fifth seed, and that means they lost the NFC East in the final week of the regular season, and the right to host their own playoff game.
Heading into Week 18, if the Eagles (-13.5) defeat the New York Giants, they win their division and automatically book Dallas' trip to Tampa.
But if the Eagles lose and the Cowboys (-5) beat the Washington Commanders, then Dallas wins the division and Philadelphia head south for Wild Card weekend.
If both teams lose, then the Bucs host Dallas.
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Interestingly enough, if that happens and the San Francisco 49ers beat the Arizona Cardinals this coming weekend, then they become the first seed in the NFC.
Tampa Bay's recent history against each NFC East candidate is good.
The Buccaneers most recently beat the Cowboys to start the 2022 NFL season and did the same to being last year's schedule as well.
In the 2021 Wild Card Round, the Bucs beat quarterback Jalen Hurts and the Eagles.
Although most would argue this year's Philadelphia squad is a little better.
Regardless, the Buccaneers are making their first three-peat trip to the playoffs since the early 2000s.
And that's something worth enjoying for a week.
Stick with BucsGameday and the Locked On Bucs podcast for more coverage of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers throughout the season.
