The last time Tampa Bay Buccaneers made it to the playoffs was after the 2007 NFL season. You have to go back to 2005 to find out the last time they did the postseason as a double-digit winning team.
Sure, they had a double-digit winning year in 2010 under Raheem Morris, but missed the playoffs due in part to an accumulated NFC Southern Division.
This year, there are many new things to do with this version of the Buccaneers. To begin with, coach Bruce Arians has taken his team on consecutive years of producing franchise records.
Tom Brady set franchise records while setting league marks and building an advantage over Drew Brees for the record for touchdown passes in his career, just as it looks like the Saints quarterback will be leaving active duty.
Tampa Bay has novice contributors like Tristan Wirfs and Antoine Winfield Jr., who not only helped to calm some of Jason Licht’s detractors, but also helped make Byron Leftwich and Todd Bowles popular names amid conversations with prospective coaches.
Perhaps the best change that receives the least press attention is the arrival of the franchise’s first reliable kicker since the team left Matt Bryant to leave town. Ryan Succop is another record holder in the franchise as well.
All of these new things helped Tampa Bay secure the fifth seed in the 2020 NFL playoffs and created a competition against a team that holds a special place of pain in the heart of the fan base.
Remember that double-digit winning team we talked about that made it to the playoffs? Well, that team had eleven wins too. And they faced Washington in that year’s postseason, in the Wild Card Round.
Jon Gruden led Buccaneers hosted the game in 2006, however, while it will be presented by Ron Rivera’s version of the franchise in search of a new name.
This time, Bruce Arians takes his squad to the Capital of the Nation looking to do what Gruden’s unit failed to do; defeat Washington.
And according to the NFL, they will do that next Saturday as the final game in a triple Wild Card Round title, playing on NBC at 8:15 pm ET.
From the press release,
“The addition of a third Wild Card team at each conference and the subsequent expansion of the playoffs resulted in an NFL action Super Wild Card Weekend. For the first time, there will be three games on Saturday, January 9, and three games on Sunday, January 10, to be played at 1:05 pm, 4:40 pm and 8:15 pm Eastern time each day. “
The match is set. The records are deleted. It’s time to ‘win or come home’ and, for a record Tampa Bay Buccaneers team, they hope this trip will be the start of a truly historic submission in February at Raymond James Stadium.