The Tampa Bay Buccaneers saved their season and their playoff hopes alive on Saturday night with a 16-14 win over the Carolina Panthers. It helped them keep away from — for now — what would have been a humiliating second-half collapse, and now offers them an opportunity to win the NFC South and host a playoff sport.
However they nonetheless have to attend and get some assistance on Sunday from an unlikely supply — A 6-10 New Orleans Saints workforce.
NFC South chaos situation is now in play
With Tampa Bay’s win on Saturday, each the Buccaneers and Panthers finish their common seasons with matching 8-9 information.
In a head-to-head tiebreaker situation, the Buccaneers would win that and safe the division.
However the end result of Sunday’s sport between the Saints and Atlanta Falcons may create a three-way tie that might swing the division again in Carolina’s favor.
If the Falcons beat New Orleans, it will give them an 8-9 file to match the Panthers and Buccaneers and create a three-way tie on the high of the division. In that occasion, the Panthers win the division and host a playoff sport subsequent week.
Meaning two groups with nothing to play for, and two groups which have already been eradicated from playoff competition, are going to resolve a division winner and alter the trail for a number of groups going into the postseason.
That can be just one a part of the story right here. The subplot to all of that is an 8-9 workforce goes to win the division and host a playoff sport. That not solely forces a workforce with a greater file to journey to them, but in addition a workforce that can virtually actually have the second-best file within the NFC.
This may solely be the fifth time in NFL historical past (in a non-strike 12 months) {that a} workforce with a shedding file will make the playoffs. Irrespective of which workforce it’s, will probably be the second time certainly one of these franchises has finished it (Carolina in 2014 and Tampa Bay in 2022)
There’s already an ongoing debate within the NFL as as to whether or not division winners ought to routinely host playoff video games, and this end result is just going to throw extra gasoline onto that fireside. It’s virtually actually going to be a 12-win workforce (or perhaps even a 13-win workforce) having to journey on the highway to a workforce that’s 4 or 5 video games worse.
So long as the divisional format exists, there must be some type of reward for profitable it. If not, simply eliminate the divisions, mix groups into two huge conferences, and easily take the highest seven groups. Till that change will get made, that is the format and all people is simply going to need to cope with it.
For now, Carolina missed its likelihood to win the division on Saturday. Tampa Bay nonetheless has a hope. Now all eyes shift to 2 groups with no likelihood of creating the playoffs. All of that is very on model for the NFC South.
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