Buccaneers NFL Power Rankings Heading Into Wildcard Weekend

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have won the NFC South. Where did national media outlets rank them on their weekly power rankings?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have won the NFC South for the third consecutive season and will now host a playoff game against the Philadelphia Eagles. Throughout the 2023 season, the Buccaneers have been up and down on the weekly power rankings. Where do the Bucs finish after the 2023 season? Here are the Bucs' power rankings after Week 18's victory against the Carolina Panthers.  

NFL.com

12. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+2)

You'd have liked to see the offense head into the playoffs with a little more momentum, but the Bucs will take Sunday's 9-0 meatgrinder of a win, along with the home playoff game that came with it. And lookie here: The Eagles, who stormed out to a 10-1 start (including a dominant victory over Tampa) this season, forgot to throw the landing gear down and crashed their way into a 1-5 finish, with losses to the Cardinals and Giants. Can this Bucs team now beat Philly on Monday? Absolutely. But it's going to take a return to the form Tampa Bay discovered prior to Weeks 17 and 18, during a four-game win streak when Baker Mayfield and the offense found a rhythm, scoring more consistently, and the defense made far more impactful plays than it had before. That the Bucs are catching an Eagles team that looks totally burned out increases the chances of that happening, one would assume.

Injury Update on Eagles QB Jalen Hurts Leading Up To Buccaneers Wild Card Game

Yahoo Sports

14. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-1)

The Buccaneers got the job done but there has to be concern about the offense. Aside from garbage time two weeks ago against New Orleans, the Buccaneers' offense has hit a wall. The Bucs couldn't score a touchdown against the Panthers with the NFC South title on the line. The defense came through and the offense did enough to win, but you have to wonder if Baker Mayfield is too injured to generate any offense in the playoffs.

NBC Sports

14. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+4)

They need to get back to what they were doing before the past two weeks.

CBS Sports

14. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (+1)

They won the division, but it wasn't always pretty. They need to be at their best to win in the playoffs.

USA Today

12. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Baker Mayfield proved everyone wrong in 2023. The Buccaneers were expected to be one of the worst teams in the NFL this season, set to compete for the first overall pick. Instead, they won their division and will host a playoff game. Obviously, the 9-8 record isn't great, but the Bucs have won five of their last six heading into the playoffs and boast a solid passing attack with Mayfield, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and halfback Rachaad White.

Fanduel

11. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Buccaneers have the advantage of being the only team in this portion of the Power Rankings to face a team ranked lower than them on Wild Card Weekend. Despite that, they are 2.5-point home underdogs to the Eagles. Looking ahead, the Buccaneers' Super Bowl odds are greatly impacted by a path that would likely see them travel to the 49ers or Cowboys if they do knock out Philadelphia.

Bleacher Report

13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-2)

The edict was clear for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 18: Beat the lowly Panthers and the Bucs would be NFC South champions and make the postseason for the fourth straight season.

It wasn't pretty, but Tampa got it done. The Bucs allowed just 199 yards of offense and 11 first downs.

After the victory, quarterback Baker Mayfield applauded the defense for picking up the offense's slack in Week 18:

"I can't say enough about our defense. A lot of guys stepped up and made big plays on defense. Offensively we ran the ball when we needed to. It wasn't a pretty win by any means and there is room for improvement. But now that we're in the playoffs, we're division champs, let's hit the reset button and go from there."

"Tampa didn't look like a team primed for a deep playoff run against the Panthers," Davenport said. "Mayfield threw for just 137 yards, the Buccaneers had just 228 yards of offense and were just six-for-16 on third down. But the Bucs ended the regular season with five wins in six games, and this week they face a reeling Eagles team that is barreling in the opposite direction.

"If the offense can get untracked, the Buccaneers have a real chance to advance to the divisional round."

Stick with BucsGameday and the Locked On Bucs podcast for more coverage of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers throughout the 2023 season.

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