Managing your family’s wealth means more to Amuni Financial than simply allocating your assets. It means legacy planning, brokerage & advisory services, retirement accounts, college savings accounts and insurance services. With 40 years of experience, let Amuni Financial help you plan ahead and stay ahead.

Call Amuni Financial at (800) 868-6864 or visit Amuni.com.

Pewter Report’s Scott Reynolds answers your questions from the @PewterReport Twitter account each week in the Bucs Monday Mailbag  Submit your question to the Bucs Monday Mailbag each week via Twitter using the hashtag #PRMailbag. Here are the questions we chose to answer for this week’s edition.

QUESTION: The NFC South currently has the No. 3 seed (Buccaneers), No. 6 seed (Saints), No. 7 seed (Falcons) and No. 8 seed (Panthers) in the NFC playoff picture if the postseason were to start today. Is the division better than everybody thought?

ANSWER: Yes. The sheer fact that the entire NFC South division would make the playoffs if they started today is a surprise. At the beginning of the season most would have said the NFC West has the best chance to accomplish that feat. With Atlanta breaking in a new coaching staff, Carolina in Year 2 of the Matt Rhule regime, and New Orleans losing about a dozen key contributors from a team that won four straight division titles, the NFC South didn’t appear to be ready to have four playoff teams.

Falcons QB Matt Ryan and TE Kyle Pitts – Photo by: USA Today

We’ll see how the season ends up as there are nine weeks left in the schedule and a lot can happen. But right now the Bucs are 6-2 and in sole possession of first place in the division. The Falcons beat the Saints on Sunday to improve to 4-4 on the season, and may be the biggest surprise team in the NFC right now. We’ll see how Atlanta finishes. Finishing games has historically beat an issue, but maybe the Falcons’ last-second win at New Orleans is a step in the right direction.

New Orleans went from having a share of the division lead with a head-to-head tiebreaker over Tampa Bay one week ago, to losing at home to Atlanta. The Saints are now 5-3 with a 1-2 record in the division and have issues at quarterback with Jameis Winston out for the season.

Carolina seems to be just as mercurial at 4-5. The Panthers can seemingly beat anyone (see Saints in Week 2) and lose to anyone (see Eagles in Week 5) this season. And Carolina also appears to have made a mistake with quarterback Sam Darnold, who has cooled off considerably since Week 3.

Tampa Bay should win the division as long as it can beat New Orleans at Raymond James Stadium in December, and at least split with Carolina this year. Winning the NFC South would guarantee the Bucs at least one home playoff game.

The Bucs have overcome several injuries to race out to a 6-2 start, which matches the best start in franchise history. Tampa Bay has never started a season 7-2 before and will have that opportunity with a win at Washington coming off the bye week.

QUESTION: What are the odds that the Bucs end up with the No. 1 seed in the NFC at season’s end?

ANSWER: I’d say there is a decent chance of that happening if the Bucs can run the table and win their last nine games. Going 8-1 down the stretch to finish 14-3 might secure the top seed and a home-field advantage, but that would mean that Arizona, the current top seed at 8-1, would have to lose at least two more games and lose tie-breaker advantages to Tampa Bay. That could happen later this year as the Rams will be looking for payback for an early season loss to the Cardinals.

Bucs QB Tom Brady – Photo by: USA Today

The Bucs’ biggest competition for the No. 1 seed in the NFC could come from the Rams, who are now 7-2 after losing Sunday night to Tennessee, 28-16. But that loss kept L.A. at the No. 5 seed behind Dallas, who is 6-2. The Bucs own the head-to-head tie-breaker over the Cowboys for their 31-29 win in Week 1.

Green Bay currently has the No. 2 seed after Sunday’s 13-7 loss at Kansas City without Aaron Rodgers. The Packers, who started Jordan Love at quarterback last week, are now 7-2, and should get Rodgers back this week.

The Bucs should be in good shape as they only have two teams with winning records left on their schedule in the Bills (5-3) and the Saints (5-3). But anything can happen in the NFL as Sunday proved with Denver (5-4) winning at Dallas (6-2), 30-16, and Jacksonville (2-6) upsetting Buffalo (5-3) at home, 9-6.

QUESTION: Do we really think the Bucs can go back to the Super Bowl? They’re at the top of the league in penalty yardage with tons of injuries, and the pass defense isn’t good at all. An undisciplined, dumb football team 10 weeks into the year and they’ve shown nothing to suggest anything will change.

ANSWER: Fair points indeed, but despite those glaring negatives Tampa Bay is still 6-2. The penalties are the easiest thing to fix because the team has more control over them than injuries. The hope is that as the secondary gets healthier and welcomes back the likes of starters Carlton Davis III and Sean Murphy-Bunting and reserves Richard Sherman and Dee Delaney that the pass defense will improve.

Also, the Bucs pass defense has made huge strides already. Over the past month, they’ve risen from dead last in the NFL to 19th. Granted, they’ve faced a weaker slate of opposing passing attacks, but the Bucs secondary has also been starting a host of backups. It’s impressive what that group has managed to do.

Bucs head coach Bruce Arians – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The thing to be most curious about is how the Bucs come back from their bye week. Remember that Tampa Bay was 7-5 last year heading into the bye week having lost three of four games prior to the bye. The Bucs were in far worse shape last year than they are now at 6-2. The team then rattled off eight straight victories to win Super Bowl LV, including the last four games of the 2020 regular season.

It’s going to be a much longer run this year as the bye week came earlier after eight games rather than 12. Winning the last nine games isn’t impossible, but it is improbable – especially if the team continues to rank near the top of the league in penalties. Tampa Bay currently has the sixth-highest number of penalties with 59 for 580 yards, which is the second-highest total in the NFL. The Bucs need to get the penalties under control ASAP after the bye week.

QUESTION: I believe the Bucs have the two highest-rated games so far with victories over Dallas and New England. So when is the NFL going to let us know when it flexes the Buffalo game?

ANSWER: Flexing the Bucs (6-2) vs. Bills (5-3) game could be coming if both teams continue to win. The current Sunday night game in Week 14 has some national appeal as Green Bay (7-2) hosts Chicago (3-5), but the Bears figure to be eliminated from playoff contention by then unless they starting winning games in a hurry. That doesn’t appear to be likely with rookie Justin Fields at quarterback.

If the NFL moves the Bucs’ home game against the Bills from 4:25 p.m. ET to at 8:20 p.m. ET on Sunday night, the league would have a serious 1-2 punch in prime time. The Cardinals (8-1) host the Rams (7-2) the next night on Monday Night Football in a game that could decide the NFC West title.

Bucs QB Tom Brady – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

There is no doubt that the league would love to get the Tom Brady-led Bucs into prime time for another nationally televised game before the playoffs. The Bucs vs. Cowboys and Bucs vs. Patriots games were huge draws on TV and live streaming.

Buffalo has the nation’s 53rd best TV market, which is significantly lower than the Tampa Bay area, which ranks 13. But consider the fact that Boston, which has the nation’s 10th most viewership, also dials in heavy due to Brady, and the Bucs currently have a massive national following as a result.

If the NFL decides to leave Bucs vs. Bills as a matinee game in Week 14, don’t be surprised to see the league flex the Bucs’ Week 13 game at Atlanta instead. If the Falcons (4-4) have a winning record by December and still have a chance at the division title, that NFC South game could have some national appeal, especially with Atlanta’s No. 7 TV market. The Week 13 Sunday Night Football game is currently San Francisco (3-5) at Seattle (3-5).