With the Bucs back in control of their destiny, the NFL better beware If they survive long enough, these guys could be pretty special. The quarterback, you know, has a story of redemption that America would love. The running back is the classic tale of the little guy too often overlooked. The head coach is a football lifer still being asked to justify his spot on the sideline. Halfway through November they were 4-6 and in danger of being fitted for an offseason overhaul. And yet, in the last six weeks, they've gone 5-1 and have the best point differential in the NFL. Yup, these guys could be dangerous in the postseason. If they make it. The death-bed revival of the 2024 Bucs continued on Sunday with a resounding 48-14 win against the Panthers. The victory kept their postseason hopes alive, and their odds increased greatly a few hours later when the Falcons blew a fourth-quarter lead and lost in overtime to Washington. Tampa Bay can clinch the NFC South with a victory next week against New Orleans. Considering how well they've been playing, would you want to face these guys in mid-January? "I think we're really close to being where we've wanted to be all year," said Tristan Wirfs. "I tell everybody, you just got to get to the dance. In my rookie year (when the Bucs won the Super Bowl) we were a wild card. We only won 11 games, or something like that. Just got to get to the dance, just got to get hot. And it feels pretty good right now." Sure, there are some extenuating circumstances with this hot streak. Four of those five recent victories have come against teams that are near the front of the line for the 2025 draft. And claiming another NFC South crown would be like winning the nerd decathlon. On the other hand, no other team in the NFC has victories against both the Lions and Eagles. Not to mention wins against the Commanders and Chargers, too. Todd Bowles has said the Bucs can play with anyone if they just avoid self-inflicted wounds. And that's kind of what we saw on Sunday against Carolina. There were no turnovers and no egregious mistakes, other than some blown coverages in the first half. The offense scored on seven of its first eight drives before taking the foot off the gas midway through the fourth quarter. Again, lesser competition is a factor but it's also worth wondering if this offense has found its groove now that offensive coordinator Liam Coen has had 16 games to get everyone acclimated to his system. "We've been feeling comfortable for a little bit now," said Cody Mauch. "I couldn't say for sure which game it was, but you can probably go back and look at the (video) and see the moment when everything started to click. I can't say enough about how much we love this offense. It's such a good scheme, it gets all of our playmakers involved. Defenses don't know what to expect. We've got guys in motion, we've got play-action, we've got runs, we've got passes, there's just so much going on. So many things we're doing well right now." How good is this offense? It's starting to rival the numbers put up by the Tom Brady-led offenses of 2020-21. The Bucs averaged 30.4 points per game across two seasons while going 24-9 and winning five postseason games, including the Super Bowl. After Sunday's explosion, these Bucs are averaging 29.7 points per game with a date still to come against the 5-11 Saints. The Bucs don't have the same firepower they once did with Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Antonio Brown, Leonard Fournette, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, but Coen has done a masterful job of integrating rookies (Bucky Irving, Jalen McMillan and, on Sunday, Devin Culp) and undrafted free agents (Sean Tucker, Ryan Miller and Rakim Jarrett) into the play-calling while working around a season-ending injury to Godwin. "I still don't think we've played a complete game yet," Wirfs said. "We're just scratching the surface with the young guys we've got around here. Today was close. It was pretty awesome so it's nice to get rolling like that. But we've still got some meat on the bone." The defense has been better since the bye week in November, but there are still some troubling signs. Bowles told sideline reporter T.J. Rives at halftime that some of his defensive backs needed to get their heads out of their rears. "It's kind of self-explanatory, I don't know what else to say after that," Bowles said. "We had that discussion and they got it out." The playoffs may be within reach, but nothing is guaranteed. On the other hand, nothing is out of reach. John Romano, Tampa Bay Times, published 30 December 2024