A 1-4 start usually means you’re toast, hoping and praying for a miracle just to sniff a division title. But this ain’t most years, and this sure ain’t most divisions. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers kicked off the 2026 season looking like a total mess. Turnovers piled up, opposing quarterbacks who hadn’t seen success in years suddenly looked like Pro Bowlers, and their starting quarterback was banged up. Yet, after just one stunning win on Thursday Night Football, talking themselves into a playoff run isn’t crazy for Bucs fans.
The NFC South Is A Special Kind of Wild
Right now, the Bucs are somehow only a game and a half behind the Panthers for the top spot in the NFC South. Think about that for a second: 1-4 and they’re practically knocking on the door. What’s even crazier is that they still have total control of their own future. All six of their division games are still on the schedule. This means if they win out against their division rivals, they could totally flip the script.
And if that wasn’t enough to get Bucs fans hyped, check this out: Tampa Bay’s remaining schedule is the second easiest in the entire NFL. While the Bucs get a break, their division rivals aren’t so lucky. Atlanta has the second most difficult schedule left, Carolina is 18th, and New Orleans is sitting at 27th. This is an absolute gift for a team that looked dead in the water just weeks ago. It’s not the first time they’ve done this either. The Bucs went through losing streaks of three-plus games in 2022, 2023, and 2024 and still managed to win the NFC South. In 2024, they dropped four straight in the middle of the season and still finished 10-7 to take the division crown.
The Defense Is Showing Up When It Counts
Part of that “sky is falling” feeling early in the season came from some real defensive struggles. Week 1 saw Cincinnati drop 33 points on them. Then in Week 2, Bucs fans had to stomach Deshaun Watson playing his best game as a Cleveland Brown. The consensus was that this defense was doomed for another mediocre season, no doubt about it.
But hold up. Digging into the numbers now tells a different story. The Bucs currently rank 14th in the NFL, giving up 22.4 points per game. That’s not elite, but it’s not the disaster everyone predicted. Where they really shine is in yards allowed: they’re seventh in the NFL, only giving up 299.4 yards per game. This defense has some serious vintage Todd Bowles traits popping up. They’re ranked second in the NFL against the run, letting opponents scamper for just 72.8 yards per game. It’s tough to evaluate them fully because their offense has been putting them in awful spots. The Bucs are 25th in the NFL, averaging 1.8 turnovers per game, which constantly forces the defense to defend short fields. In fact, the only time an opponent scored over 30 points on them this season was Cincinnati in Week 1, when Tampa Bay coughed up four turnovers. Their defense just came off its most impressive performance, holding Dallas’s second-best scoring offense (who averaged 30.2 points coming into the game) in check.
The Buccaneers have somehow clawed their way back into contention, and with all those division games left and an easier schedule, they really do control their destiny. It’s going to be a wild ride in the NFC South.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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