Buccaneers' Road Playoff Credentials Put To The Test In 2025

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Adam Schultz | Last updated May 16, 2025 7:54 PM ET

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are seen as one of the better teams in the NFC, and are favorites to claim the NFC South again.

Not many are sold on the Buccaneers making a deep playoff run due to the fact that they aren't an NFC top dog, which means road playoff games.

With Tampa Bay losing to the Detroit Lions in 2023 and then at home to the Washington Commanders last year, the franchise knows it has another chance to stake a claim in the postseason.

But in order to make a deep run, the Buccaneers will likely have to win on the road, something they will get a lot of practice with in 2025.

As CBS Sports points out, a majority of Tampa Bay's road games are against playoff-caliber teams.

"The Buccaneers only play five games against teams that made the playoffs last season, which isn't a huge number, but the problem is that four of those five games are on the road with games against the Texans, Lions, Bills and Rams," CBS Sports writes. "To add insult to injury, the Bucs have to play the Bills and Rams in back-to-back weeks."

So we will get a good indication of how well the Buccaneers can cope with a road playoff-like game against good quality teams this upcoming season.

Yes, Tampa Bay has an improved roster from last year, and if the injury bug can stay away, then Todd Bowles' team has the weaponry on both sides of the ball to make some noise.

But before the playoffs begin, being able to slay a host of playoff-caliber teams will do wonders for the narrative around the Buccaneers, and it might quieten a few skeptics as well.

If, and that is a big if, the Buccaneers are to get to the NFC Championship game, they will have to play a couple of games on the road, and what better way to show they're up for it, then to slay high-caliber teams en route to another postseason with Mayfield?

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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