With the Bucs coming out of their Week 11 bye at 4-6, they have seven games to turn things around and make the playoffs.

There’s an outside shot that a hot finish and a bit of a collapse by the Falcons could give Todd Bowles and Co. a four-peat as NFC South champions, but at the very least, Tampa Bay will be looking to sneak into the postseason with a Wild Card berth. Doing so would extend the team’s NFC-best playoff appearance streak to five straight.

As much as every game down the final stretch of the season matters, it’s the Bucs’ next three contests that look absolutely crucial coming out of the bye. Bowles often spoke late last season about every game being a playoff-type game for his team over the final month. That needs to start again as Tampa Bay gets back to work and looks to reverse course and reenter the thick of the playoff race. 

Bucs Need To Win Three Straight Over The Next Three Weeks

Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

The Bucs haven’t won back-to-back games since beating the Commanders and Lions in Weeks 1 and 2, respectively. After starting 2-0, they went loss-win-loss-win before dropping their last four games to sink to 4-6.

So, in the quest to turn things around, Tampa Bay will need to flip the script and put together a winning streak. While the schedule over these final seven games is significantly easier than the seven-game stretch leading into the bye, it’s these next three games that serve as a potential catapult for the Bucs as they seek a strong finish.

Whether they load themselves into that catapult is the question.

It’s cliche, but this really will have to be a game-by-game process. It starts in the Meadowlands on Sunday when the team will be favored to snap its four-game losing streak against a bad 2-8 Giants squad. Fall short in that game and see the losing streak hit five? Considering the competition in the division and throughout the NFC this year as opposed to 2023, the season might as well be over right then at 4-7.

But win that game and the playoff mentality has to continue in Week 13. The Bucs would then be heading into December at 5-6 and presumably right on the outside of an NFC Wild Card spot. On the first day of December, Tampa Bay will be in Charlotte to face the Panthers. Dave Canales’ team did win back-to-back games over Weeks 9 and 10, but it’ll very likely be coming into that game against the Bucs at 3-8 after a Week 12 matchup with the Chiefs.

Bucs RB Rachaad White and RT Luke Goedeke – Photo by: USA Today

It’ll be do-or-die again for the Bucs, of course. A loss would drop them to 5-7 and they’d seriously be running short on time to get it together and get in the playoffs. But a win would get them back to .500 at 6-6 as they return home in Week 14.

With back-to-back wins out of the bye and the team continuing to get healthier, there would be an undeniable lift in spirits throughout the locker room. And the favorable schedule would continue with Tampa Bay back home at Raymond James Stadium.

The Raiders would be coming to town – quite possibly at 3-9 but maybe even likely at 2-10 – with the Bucs having a chance to get back to .500 for the first time in over a month.

Taking advantage of that chance would really set Tampa Bay up for the type of finish it needs to complete another late-season turnaround.

There Would Still Be More Work For The Bucs The Rest Of The Way

Emphasizing this upcoming three-game stretch isn’t meant to diminish the final four games after that. It goes without saying that a three-game winning streak out of the bye doesn’t guarantee the Bucs will make the playoff field. They’d still have more work to do in the second half of December and into January. But taking care of business against these next three opponents – who are all at least four games under .500 – would give Tampa Bay a chance.

Bucs RT Tristan Wirfs – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

A three-game winning streak could get that winning feeling back in the Buccaneer locker room just in time for what promises to be the toughest matchup over the final seven weeks – a trip out west to face Jim Harbaugh’s Chargers.

A 3-0 run heading into that game would set up a big opportunity because at that point, a win over Los Angeles would have Tampa Bay at 8-6 and potentially even a favorite to grab one of the last NFC Wild Card berths. But even a loss would have the team at 7-7 with three more favorable games to close out the schedule.

In other words, going 3-0 in the next three games makes that Chargers game a nothing-to-lose type of game, for lack of a better term. Win that game and it’s four straight victories, which would make the possibility of winning out and finishing 11-6 actually feel real. But lose it and it’s still likely that another three-game winning streak to close the season will have you in the mix for that No. 7 seed in the NFC.

But it’s all about getting to that first three-game winning streak before anything else. These next three games may decide the Bucs’ season – and Todd Bowles’ future with the team. Getting back to work and taking care of business against a directionless Giants team is the first task.