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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers could make a new anniversary out of December 12 with a win against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
The Bucs can end a 14-year NFC South Division title drought with a win — a far better memory in Bucs lore than Dec. 12, 1976. Tampa Bay’s inaugural season ended with an 0-14 record on that date with a 31-14 loss to the New England Patriots.
Current Bucs head coach Bruce Arians knows how he would handle the latter scenario.
“Probably wouldn’t be coaching,” Arians said, cracking a smile, during a Wednesday, Dec. 8 press conference.
December looks different now in Tampa Bay. The Bucs have a 4-0 record in December games since Tom Brady became the quarterback in 2020. More wins this month could lead to the Bucs clinching a first-ever No. 1 seed for the NFC playoffs.
December to Remember for Bucs?
Neither Bucs Super Bowl-winning team grabbed a No. 1 seed in 2002 or 2020.
December football made Bucs fans worried annually, no matter the success level, as columnist John Romano of the Tampa Bay Times noted.
“No matter what year the calendar was showing, Bucs fans seemed to vacillate between panic and dread,” Romano wrote. “In the lost years, the final month of the NFL season was four long weeks of gritted teeth and resignation. In the better years, it was often a week-to-week dose of anxiety and tiebreaker formulas.”
Just don’t tell Arians and the Bucs how good it looks right now as Romano alluded to.
“Yeah, we don’t really talk about it,” coach Bruce Arians said in a Monday, Dec. 6 press conference. “You start thinking about January, you’re going to get your a– beat and you’ll be playing on the road for sure.”
Bucs’ Path to Top Seed
Tampa Bay has low odds, 21%, to nab the No. 1 seed and bye week according to the New York Times, but that doesn’t make it impossible.
The Bucs (9-3) trail current top seed frontrunner Arizona (10-2) by a game, and the Green Bay Packers (9-3) own a tiebreaker of the Bucs as Romano noted. Scheduling works in the Bucs favor going forward with nothing but opponents with losing records after the Bills.
The Cardinals and Packers have more remaining games with teams above .500 or better, Romano wrote. Arizona’s slate consists of the Los Angeles Rams (8-4), Dallas Cowboys (8-4), and Indianapolis Colts (7-6). The Packers face the Baltimore Ravens (8-4) and Cleveland Browns (6-6)
“It’s just taking care of every day’s business,” Arians told the media on Monday. “One day at a time. We’ll add them all up at the end. Everybody knows how important that is. We’re sitting at the No. 3 seed right now and each win, each game really matters.”
Ultimately, the Bucs need to keep winning and need the Cardinals and Packers to lose at least once each.
Not grabbing the top seed could mean another trip to Green Bay’s Lambeau Field in the winter where the Bucs won last season’s NFC Championship game. If the Bucs have to make that trip, it will come with 10 times the opposing crowd compared to last season’s COVID-restricted 7,772 fans.
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