Tampa Bay Buccaneers Plunge in NFL Power Rankings After Tough Colts Loss

After a loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 12, national media outlets updated their power rankings. Where did the Bucs land?

The Buccaneers once again suffered a loss. The Bucs have now lost 6 out of their last 7 games. There are many things that the Buccaneers are struggling with right now. It seems as if when they fix something, other parts of the team start to struggle. The offense has improved over the past few weeks but the defense has been letting them down.

National media outlets have been putting the Buccaneers around d the 20-25 range in their weekly power rankings. After a loss to the Colts, the Buccaneers will surely drop even further. Here are the Bucs power rankings by site headed into Week 13.

Buccaneers Coach Todd Bowles Gives Update on Baker Mayfield's Injury

NFL.com

24. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-4)

The Bucs aren't out of it, with their record at 4-7 and the Saints and Falcons both at 5-6. It's nice that Tampa has been in every game since the Week 5 bye, but the 1-6 streak has revealed some ugly trends. The defense has stopped taking the ball away and has had major tackling issues. Red-zone performance has been a problem on offense. Injuries haven't helped, either. Baker Mayfield made some gutsy throws on Sunday, playing through an ankle injury that forced him to leave briefly, but he also had two costly turnovers that hurt his team on the road against a hungry Colts squad. The Bucs just seem to be four or five plays short of victory every week. Even with the obvious bright spots on offense, it's hard to get too excited about their chances of getting in the Big Dance.

ESPN

23. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-1)

On defense, the Buccaneers are still struggling as one of the worst third-down teams in the league, giving up a 44.5% third-down conversion rate (29th), but they're only giving up 37.8% of touchdowns in the red zone -- the second best in the league, with 20.6 points surrendered per game. On offense, they're averaging roughly 300 yards per game -- which ranks 23rd in the league -- but scoring in the red zone remains a challenge, as they're averaging 18.6 offensive points per game, 22nd in the league. As for special teams, the Bucs rank 27th in yards per kick return (20.1). -- Jenna Laine

Sports Illustrated

22. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Buccaneers just look tired at times. And as tough as Baker Mayfield is, they can’t expect him to be sacked six times and win a game. Still, miraculously, confoundingly, the division is still somewhat up for grabs. The New York Times’s playoff simulator gives the Buccaneers a 15% chance of reaching the postseason, and far be it from me to disagree with an election-guessing supercomputer. But this team still has two games against the Panthers on tap, in addition to a couple of other winnable games.

Former Super Bowl Winning Buccaneers' Defensive End Signs With Miami Dolphins

Yahoo Sports

25. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-3) 

Amid the disappointment of another loss, it was good to see Rachaad White get 100 yards rushing and the great Mike Evans catch another two touchdowns. But the season is slipping away fast.

Bleacher Report

24. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-2)

Sunday's loss to the Indianapolis Colts was Tampa's sixth in seven games since the team's bye week. Four of those losses (including this last one) were one-score affairs. For linebacker Devin White, it has simply been a matter of failing to make the plays on both sides of the ball necessary to close out games.

"It's just not finishing at the end," White told reporters. "It's not like we're going out there doing our thing and getting demolished by any teams. I think that's the hardest thing is that we're in every game and we're making plays, but we've got to kind of limit some other things so we can get over the top and win those games."

Offensively, the Buccaneers managed fewer than 300 yards of offense. Defensively, the team allowed 27 points despite Indianapolis converting just two of 11 third-down attempts. The reasons may change from week to week, but the results have been depressingly consistent. And at this point in what is shaping up as a lost season in Tampa, the team needs to face a cold, hard, fact.

A full-bore rebuild is coming—and necessary.

CBS Sports

24. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-1)

They keep losing games, but, amazingly, they are still in the division race. They can't afford many more losses.

USA Today

23. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-2)

How can you not love Pro Bowl WR Mike Evans … especially if you're those two Tampa Bay fans who ventured into Lucas Oil Stadium and came out with souvenir TD footballs?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will now be hosting the 1-10 Carolina Panthers. 

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

Follow BucsGameday on Twitter and Facebook