The Tampa Bay Buccaneers entered playoff mode sooner than they hoped to after a four-game skid dropped them to 4-6 heading into their bye week.
So far they’ve peaked under the pressure.
Tampa Bay has rattled off four straight wins following its bye to vault atop the NFC South with three regular-season games to go.
The Buccaneers will enter next week’s game at Dallas at least one game ahead of second-place Atlanta, which plays at Las Vegas on Monday, but nobody in Tampa Bay’s locker room is looking too far ahead.
“Playoffs are down the road for us,” quarterback Baker Mayfield said. “We still have to take it one game at a time. … We’ve been in playoff mode for a few weeks now. That’s the mentality we have to have.”
Frankly, the Buccaneers had no excuse to not make a late push after losing four straight. Their first three games out of the bye week were against teams currently projected to hold a top-five pick in next year’s NFL draft (New York Giants, Carolina and Las Vegas).
Tampa Bay expectedly handled those three bottom-feeders before notching perhaps its most impressive win of the season in Week 15, shredding the Chargers’ top-ranked scoring defense in a 40-17 rout in Los Angeles on Sunday.
Mayfield completed 22 of 27 throws for 288 yards with four touchdowns and an interception, while Mike Evans hauled in nine passes for a season-high 159 yards and a pair of scores. The Buccaneers outscored the Chargers 27-0 in the second half.
“We understood the assignment,” Tampa Bay coach Todd Bowles said. “It shows the growth from the second half of the season as a team, how we can come back and not panic in the second half.”
The Buccaneers’ stout second half on defense emblemized one of the keys to the team’s turnaround this season. Tampa Bay has allowed 60 points during its current win streak.
The difference between before and after the bye week?
“Just the concentration and the focus,” Bowles said. “Everybody communicating with each other. They’re playing for each other and understanding what they’re looking at.”
Perhaps the most impressive part about the Buccaneers’ recent defensive performance has been the unit’s depth. Tampa Bay kept the Chargers in check even though three safeties sat out with injuries, as did linebacker K.J. Britt.
Offensively, Mayfield has flourished under center, but it helps having a superstar in Evans lined up on the outside. The veteran receiver is on pace for his 11th straight 1,000-yard season, which would tie Hall of Fame wideout Jerry Rice for the NFL record.
“You can’t put a price on what he does for this team,” Bowles said of Evans, an 11th-year pro.
“… He is everything that a player aspires to be… We can’t ask for anything more than what he’s giving us right now.”
Evans will remain a focal point of the offense down the stretch as the Buccaneers chase their fourth straight division title.
Tampa Bay can’t earn the NFC’s first-round bye, but the Buccaneers will be a legitimate threat regardless of where they end up in the playoff seeding. They have victories this season over both Detroit and Philadelphia, who are tied atop the conference standings at 12-2.
With Mayfield and Evans leading an offense that complements a resurgent defense, Tampa Bay is well-positioned to clinch another playoff berth. The Buccaneers will be hungry to avenge last season’s loss at Detroit in the divisional round.
But while it appears poised to sew up another division title, Tampa Bay knows just how quickly the season can flip. Now suddenly atop the NFL South, the Buccaneers are intent on staying there.
“We control our own destiny,” Bowles said.
