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Tampa Bay Buccaneers Week 15 playoff picture: Bucs back in a familiar position

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Craig Smith | Last updated Dec 10, 2024 2:29 PM ET

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are now back where they've spent a good bit of time this decade: on top of the NFC South standings.

The Bucs defeated the Las Vegas Raiders 28-13 on Sunday in Tampa to improve to 7-6. Meanwhile, the Atlanta Falcons fell apart in Minneapolis, losing 42-21 to the Minnesota Vikings to drop to 6-7.

Per the NFL.com playoff picture engine, the Bucs' playoff chances shot up to 71%. The Falcons' chances dropped to 38%. Here's how things look in the NFC entering Week 15:

Via A To Z Sports

Tampa Bay is the 4 seed in the NFC as the lowest division leader, which would match them up with the top wild card, currently the 11-2 Minnesota Vikings.

Aside from the division, the Bucs also moved one step closer to another possible avenue to the playoffs: a wild card spot. Even though the Bucs are in first in the NFC South, they are also now just one game back of Washington for the final wild card spot. The Bucs hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over Washington by virtue of their 37-20 win back in Week 1.

Tampa Bay is also in excellent position if they end up tied for the final wild card spot with someone other than Washington, as they hold a 6-3 conference record right now. The only team behind the Bucs in the wild card race with a tiebreaker edge over Tampa Bay is San Francisco, who defeated the Bears 31-6 on Sunday to improve to 6-7. The Niners hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Bucs, so another loss by them would greatly improve the Bucs' wild card chances.

Here's how the remaining schedule looks for Tampa Bay, Atlanta, and Washington.

Tampa Bay