Rarely good this year, but maybe the Bucs can still be great At a moment such as this, the preposterous seems reasonable again. Tom Brady is throwing bombs, Mike Evans is handing out souvenirs and the Bucs defense is creating turnovers and mayhem. If you squint, you can practically see the Super Bowl from here. The crowd is shouting, the head coach is smiling and the playoffs are calling. It's as if, instead of turning the calendar over to 2023, the Bucs have flipped it back to 2021. So tell me, in the aftermath of giddy, did they change your mind? Did a 30-24 victory against Carolina on Sunday convince you the Bucs have enough left in the tank to drive all the way back to glory and beyond? Or did they just beat a bad team to win a terrible division? Should the rest of the NFL be afraid of this team? "C'mon, man," said cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting, who had an interception, a forced fumble and two passes defensed on Sunday. "I'm just going to let that question go. Whether you're afraid of us or whether you want to take us lightly, we're going into the playoffs at 0-0. So now, it's just best-man wins." For months, they have been telling you that they were just a few mistakes shy of impressive. A few healthy bodies away from formidable. And now that they have clinched the NFC South in back-to-back seasons for the first time in franchise history, the Bucs have two weeks to rest and prepare for a rare home game in the playoffs. Maybe they don't have the swagger of 2020 or the gaudy record of 2021, but they do have a locker room filled with guys who know the taste of tequila in a Super Bowl parade. "People can say what they want to say about us. We can't control that," said linebacker Lavonte David. "All we can control is what's going on in this locker room, and having each other's back in here. That's what you saw (Sunday) and, when the time comes for the playoffs, that's what everybody will see." The Bucs are not quite cured, but they are feeling frisky this morning. A defense that forced four turnovers in 10 weeks has suddenly gotten six in the past two games. A quarterback who had thrown one touchdown of 30-plus yards all season threw three on Sunday against the Panthers. And a head coach with 80 games on his resume clinched a playoff berth for the first time. "We've had some ups and downs," said right tackle Tristan Wirfs. "But the guys in this locker room, I trust them with my life. We're in the playoffs, and that's all we've been trying to do all year long. It's going to be fun, it's going to be exciting." Can the Bucs run the ball? No, they're still at the bottom of the NFL after 25 rushes for an average of 2.7 yards each on Sunday. Can they intimidate mediocre quarterbacks? No, Sam Darnold joined Mitch Trubisky, PJ Walker, Jacoby Brissett and Trace McSorley as passers who either beat the Bucs or had a fourth-quarter lead this year. Can they avoid mind-blowing penalties and mistakes? No, they did all they could to keep Carolina's hopes alive, including a bungled punt attempt that was saved from disaster by Jake Camarda. But can they beat the Cowboys or Eagles in the first round of the playoffs on the weekend of Jan. 14-15? Yeah, they can. When they are running the hurry-up offense, the Bucs look capable of scoring in a heartbeat. And when they have a healthy defense, they play a pretty good version of bend-but-don't-break. So, I'll ask again, should opponents be afraid of this 8-8 team in the playoffs? "You better be. You come in here thinking you're getting something sweet, I promise you're going to get this same treatment. You're going to think you got it until we got you," said defensive lineman Rakeem Nunez-Roches. "We set out to reach a goal, and (Sunday) we accomplished it by making the playoffs. We're still working to get to the next goal, which is the big game." Maybe this is all nonsense. Maybe, after a season filled with disappointment, we'll look back at Sunday afternoon as the highlight of a season that didn't get as far as everyone expected. If you find yourself feeling that way in the days to come, close your eyes and picture Brady throwing deep down the sideline and Evans running under the ball and into the end zone. Again and again. "Things clicking on offense," said David, "hopefully is a sign of what's to come." John Romano, The Tampa Bay Times, published 2 January 2023