Four-game losing streaks can often kill a team’s season, but the saving grace for the Bucs during theirs was that they play in an average-to-bad NFC South. That’s why, even after sinking to 3-5 with their loss in Houston last week, they had something to play for against the Titans on Sunday afternoon at Raymond James Stadium. And as it turned out, it was a big day for them in terms of gaining ground in the race for the division.

Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: USA Today

Tampa Bay took care of its business and snapped its losing streak by beating Tennessee 20-6, plus the team got help elsewhere.

The Vikings beat the Saints 27-19, holding off a late comeback attempt when Jameis Winston entered the game for an injured Derek Carr. With New Orleans trailing 27-3, Carr exited with a shoulder injury and to be evaluated for a concussion. Winston stepped in and threw two touchdowns to get the Saints back in it, but he later threw two interceptions as Minnesota held on for the win. With the loss, the Saints dropped to 5-5.

So with that, the Bucs picked up a game on the division-leading Saints. At 4-5, Tampa Bay is just a half-game away from the division lead.

The other big result that worked to the Bucs’ benefit was the Falcons’ 25-23 loss to the Cardinals. After a back-and-forth second half, the returning Kyler Murray led Arizona on a game-winning drive that ended with a 23-yard Matt Prater field goal. That sent Arthur Smith and his Falcons to a third straight loss, dropping them into third place at 4-6, a half-game behind the 4-5 Bucs.

The Panthers lost yet another game on Thursday night, falling 16-13 to the Bears. At 1-8, Carolina is coming closer and closer to clinching the basement of the division each week.

NFC South Standings Through Week 10:

New Orleans Saints 5-5 (1-1 in the NFC South)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 4-5 (1-1 in the NFC South)
Atlanta Falcons 4-6 (2-0 in the NFC South)
Carolina Panthers 1-8 (0-2 in the NFC South)

Bucs Still Have Big Divisional Games To Play

Bucs S Antoine Winfield Jr. – Photo by: USA Today

The NFC South has certainly been a week-to-week division in 2023. The Bucs took control of it with a win over the Saints in Week 4, fell out of first a couple of weeks later and ultimately entered Week 10 in third place behind the Saints and Falcons. But one week reframed the race for the division yet again, making it even clearer that it will go down to the wire just like it did in 2022.

Bucs wide receiver Mike Evans, who caught six passes for 143 yards and a touchdown in Sunday’s win over the Titans, made the comparison between this year’s race and last year’s in his postgame press conference.

“It’s kind of like last year,” Evans said. “We were first place for a while, floating around .500 and then we ended up winning at the end. It’s a similar situation this year, but we have more time. Hopefully we can go on a win streak and separate ourselves.”

The good news for the Bucs is that they have a lot of their big divisional games left to play. They already have a win over the Saints and will play them again on New Year’s Eve. Meanwhile, they’ll look for the split in the season series against the Falcons when they travel to Atlanta on Dec. 10. And they still have both of their games against the struggling Panthers.

Remaining NFC South Head-To-Head Matchups

Week 12 (Nov. 26) — New Orleans at Atlanta
Week 13 (Dec. 3) — Carolina at Tampa Bay
Week 14 (Dec. 10) — Carolina at New Orleans
Week 14 (Dec. 10) — Tampa Bay at Atlanta
Week 15 (Dec. 17) — Atlanta at Carolina
Week 17 (Dec. 31) — New Orleans at Tampa Bay
Week 18 (Jan. 7) — Atlanta at New Orleans
Week 18 (Jan. 7) — Tampa Bay at Carolina