Bucs' home and away opponents are now set for 2026 after second-place NFC South finish

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' run as the champions of the NFC South is now officially over. With Atlanta's 19-17 win over New Orleans, Carolina claimed the division on a tiebreaker, and the Bucs were eliminated from the playoffs.

There is a small silver lining for Tampa Bay resulting from it. The Bucs officially finished second in the division by way the three-way tiebreaker with Carolina and Atlanta. As such, they'll play a second-place schedule in 2026. While we don't yet know when Tampa Bay will play each team in 2026, their home and away opponent list is now officially set.

Bucs will play a second-place schedule in 2026 as divisional runner-up to Carolina

2026 home opponents:

• Carolina Panthers
• Atlanta Falcons
• New Orleans Saints
• Green Bay Packers
• Minnesota Vikings
• Cleveland Browns
• Pittsburgh Steelers
• Los Angeles Chargers
• Los Angeles Rams

2026 away opponents

• Carolina Panthers
• Atlanta Falcons
• New Orleans Saints
• Baltimore Ravens
• Cincinnati Bengals
• Chicago Bears
• Detroit Lions
• Dallas Cowboys

Tampa Bay had nine road games and eight home games in 2025, so with the league's rotation, that means the Bucs will have nine home games and eight road games in 2026.

The Bucs' divisional rotation this year is the AFC North and the NFC North. Tampa Bay also gets the second-place teams out of the NFC West and AFC West at home, and those are both of the franchises from Los Angeles. Lastly, the Bucs also get the second-place NFC East team on the road, and the Dallas Cowboys filled that spot after going 7-9-1 this season.

It remains to be seen if any of those games will be overseas. Given the Bucs haven't left the country since the 2022 season, when they played in Munich, they certainly could be due for a trip abroad in 2026.

The full schedule with dates will be released by the league in May.

This story was originally published by A to Z Sports on Jan 5, 2026, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add A to Z Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.