Hot Bucs vs. Falcons Race Offers Dangling Playoff Carrot
After winning back-to-back games, the 6-6 Tampa Bay Buccaneers are now tied for the NFC South lead with the Atlanta Falcons.
With Atlanta on a three-game losing streak, the Buccaneers have closed the gap. Now, with Raheem Morris' team facing the 10-2 Minnesota Vikings and the Buccaneers, the lowly Las Vegas Raiders, Tampa Bay could be in first place in the division if things go well.
But for quarterback Baker Mayfield, he isn't interested in hypotheticals, he's focused on how his team performs week in, week out.
“Obviously we'd like to have a better record than we do now,” Mayfield said. “But we're still saying that we control our own destiny, so outside factors right now don't really matter if we don't take care of business. So it's got to be how do we win this game, and it's got to be like that every week on out.”
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The Buccaneers do have a slightly easier schedule than the Falcons, but they can't take anything for granted, as the NFL has a knack for giving you a big slice of humble pie just when you start to think you've got things figured out.
So, while things are trending in the Buccaneers' direction, Mayfield knows that this battle is far from over, and all it takes is one game for his team not to be at their best, and the "control our own destiny" talk goes away.
Still needing the win out and the Falcons to stumble at least once, the Buccaneers still have a lot that has to go right to grab that dangling carrot of a playoff berth, but it's one step at a time for Baker and his team. ... Starting with the Raiders.
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