Buccaneers Must Climb Hill To Playoffs

It's time for the Buccaneers to win at home!


A peek ahead at the upcoming schedule of the 4-4 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, currently ranked 18th in the NFL.com Expert Consensus Power Poll: 


Past:
LOST 27-20 to Detroit
WON 24-20 against Minnesota
WON 16-13 against Atlanta
WON 24-17 against Indianapolis
LOST 48-3 to San Francisco
WON 26-20 against New Orleans
LOST 24-18 to Chicago
LOST 26-18 to New Orleans


Up Next:

Houston (6-3) #9


Upcoming:
@Green Bay (8-0) #1
@Tennessee (4-4) #20
Carolina (2-6) #23
@Jacksonville (2-6) #27
Dallas (3-3) #17
@Carolina (2-6) #23
@Atlanta (5-3) #14


Remaining Schedule Cumulative Record: 27-27


Based on the Power Poll, Tampa Bay should finish the 2011 season with an 8-8 record.  The swing games appear to be against Dallas, Atlanta, and this weekend's game against Houston.


The Playoff Picture

If the playoffs started this week:  

Division Winners

Green Bay Packers (8-0, NFC North)

- San Francisco 49ers (7-1, NFC West)

New York Giants (6-2, NFC East)

- New Orleans Saints (6-3, NFC South)

Wildcards

- Detroit Lions (6-2, NFC North)

- Chicago Bears (5-3, NFC North)

Outside Looking In

+ Atlanta Falcons (5-3, NFC South)

? Dallas Cowboys (4-4, NFC East)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-4, NFC South)

Philadelphia Eagles (3-5, NFC East)

Washington Redskins (3-5, NFC East)

The rest of the NFC teams are more than three games out of the wildcard race at this time -- not eliminated, but getting there.  Teams with a minus(-) in front of their name own a tiebreaker over Tampa Bay by defeating the Buccaneers during the 2011 regular season.  Teams with a plus(+) in front of their name would lose a tiebreaker to the Buccaneers, and teams with a question mark(?) are still to come on the Buccaneers schedule.

Important games this weekend:

Buccaneers to WIN over Houston (of course!)

Detroit to WIN over Chicago

New Orleans to WIN over Atlanta

Buffalo to WIN over Dallas

Let's play football!

GO BUCS!!