For the first time since the 2019 season, the Bucs will be at home when the playoffs get underway.

Despite (finally) doing their part by beating the Panthers 16-14 at Raymond James Stadium on Saturday, it was too little, too late for the Bucs. Because of its 1-7 stretch out of the bye week and a four-game losing streak making for a winless December, Tampa Bay was stuck in an uncomfortable spot on Sunday. Todd Bowles and Co. needed a Saints win over the Falcons in Atlanta to clinch a fifth straight NFC South title and a sixth consecutive playoff appearance.

Otherwise, the Falcons would finish 8-9 and create a three-way tie atop the division with the 8-9 Bucs and 8-9 Panthers. And in that scenario, the Panthers would win a three-way tiebreaker due to their 3-1 record against the other two teams.

It was the second scenario that wound up playing out at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The Saints and Falcons traded turnovers early, then it was the Falcons who took a 10-0 lead that they would never relinquish. The Saints had the ball in plus territory with just over three minutes to go in the fourth quarter down by six, but Tyler Shough threw an interception and the Falcons went on to win 19-17.

The Bucs needed help from the Saints and the Panthers needed help from the Falcons, and in the end, the Panthers got the help they needed and have officially unseated the four-time defending NFC South champion Bucs.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles and Panthers HC Dave Canales – Photo by: IMAGN Images – Nathan Ray Seebeck

Dave Canales, the former Tampa Bay offensive coordinator, will be taking his Carolina team to the playoffs in his second year as a head coach. For the Panthers, it’s their first division title since 2015, the year they went 15-1 and eventually lost to the Broncos in the Super Bowl.

The Bucs will now embark on what could be an interesting offseason. First will come a decision on the future of Todd Bowles, who is 35-33 in the regular season in four years as Tampa Bay’s head coach. Beyond that, will there be any staff changes if Bowles is retained? How will general manager Jason Licht and his front office rebuild the defense? Will Lavonte David retire after 14 seasons? Will Mike Evans return for a 13th season?

There are a lot of questions to be answered, and now that the season is officially over in Tampa Bay, let the process of finding answers begin.

FINAL 2025-26 NFC South Standings

Carolina Panthers – 8-9 (3-3 in NFC South)
e — Tampa Bay Buccaneers – 8-9 (3-3 in NFC South) 
e — Atlanta Falcons – 8-9 (3-3 in NFC South) 
e — New Orleans Saints – 6-11 (3-3 in NFC South) — 2 games back

After the Bucs beat the Panthers on Saturday evening, the main event of the night was a matchup between the Seahawks and 49ers for the NFC West title and the NFC’s No. 1 seed. There was little drama in that one, though, as Seattle bullied its way to a 13-3 win. The Seahawks, at 14-3, are the NFC West champions and the road to Super Bowl LX in the NFC will go through Seattle. Of course, that also means that Mike Macdonald’s team will have a first-round bye.

Sunday afternoon provided full clarity on the rest of the NFC playoff picture. The Panthers got the last unclaimed playoff spot with the Falcons’ win, but the No. 2, No. 5 and No. 6 seed were still undecided heading into the final afternoon of the regular season.

The Bears need a win over the Lions or an Eagles loss to the Commanders to clinch the No. 2 seed. Otherwise, a loss and an Eagles win over the Commanders would’ve seen the defending Super Bowl champions jump up into the No. 2 seed and drop the upstart Bears to the No. 3 seed.

As it turned out, both the Bears and Eagles lost in Week 18, so it’ll be Chicago that hangs on for the No. 2 seed to set up a Wild Card Weekend matchup at home against the No. 7 seed Packers. Philadelphia takes the No. 3 seed, setting up a matchup with the No. 6 seed.

Rams WR Puka Nacua – Photo by: USA Today

And that No. 6 seed was still undecided heading into the 4:00 p.m. window. But after the 49ers’ loss to the Seahawks on Saturday night, the Rams just needed a win over the Cardinals to clinch the No. 5 seed and earn a trip to Charlotte to face the No. 4 seed Panthers next weekend. They got it, winning 37-20 to finish 12-5 and set up that contest with the Panthers in the first round.

That means the 12-5 49ers slide down to the No. 6 seed and will open up their playoff run on the road against the No. 3 seed Eagles.

The Packers knew coming into Week 18 that they would be the No. 7 seed regardless of what happened, so their 16-3 loss to the Vikings did nothing other than send them into the playoffs on a four-game losing streak. As mentioned above, they’ll face the Bears for the third time since the start of December.

FINAL 2025-26 NFC Standings + Wild Card Weekend Matchups

1. Seattle Seahawks – 14-3 
2. Chicago Bears – 11-6
3. Philadelphia Eagles – 11-6
4. Carolina Panthers – 8-9 
5. Los Angeles Rams – 12-5
6. San Francisco 49ers – 12-5 
7. Green Bay Packers – 9-7-1 

WILD CARD WEEKEND MATCHUPS:

No. 7 seed Packers at No. 2 seed Bears

No. 6 seed 49ers at No. 3 seed Eagles

No. 5 seed Rams at No. 4 seed Panthers