A new Pewter Report Roundtable debuts every Tuesday on PewterReport.com. Each week, the Pewter Reporters tackle another tough question. This week’s prompt: How many games do the Bucs win down the stretch?
Scott Reynolds: I Want To Say The Bucs Finish 3-1, But …
Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
The final month of the Bucs’ 2024 regular season is here, and the team controls its own destiny thanks to a win last week over the Raiders that improved their record to 7-6, coupled with a fourth straight loss for the 6-7 Falcons. If Tampa Bay wins the last four games of the season the team will retain its division crown no matter what Atlanta does down the stretch. So let me start off by saying that I believe Tampa Bay can win out and actually finish 11-6 this year and win a fourth straight NFC South title. That’s not impossible, especially with Liam Coen’s offense averaging 28 points per game.
I also believe a 3-1 finish by the Bucs is quite probable, as this Sunday’s game at Los Angeles against an 8-5 Chargers team will be quite a challenge. If the Bucs are losing to lose a game, I would suspect this would be the one. All of the Pewter Reporters predicted Tampa Bay would go 10-7 this year – myself included. So that prediction would hit. Yet I also revised my prediction to 9-8 in a previous PR Roundtable after the team slumped to 4-4 – and even correctly forecast a 4-6 record heading into the bye week. I hate to say it, but I think the Bucs finish 2-2 – and if I had to guess, the losses would be to the Chargers and Saints.
I want to believe in this year’s Bucs team, but you know that I am a straight shooter. There is something about this Tampa Bay team I just don’t trust this year. Maybe it’s the fact that this squad is so banged up with injuries that I’m not sure if the Bucs can overcome losing any more starters. This team loses one or two on a weekly basis it seems. Maybe I don’t quite trust Todd Bowles’ in-game strategy. I think he’s improved, but can Bowles make all of the right calls with clock management and timeout usage down the stretch? Or maybe I don’t fully trust the Bucs defense continue to play this well. Is there another game where Bowles’ unit gives up 30 points? I hope not, but who knows?
Matt Matera: Bucs Run The Table And End On A 7-Game Winning Streak
Bucs QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: USA Today
The only way that the Bucs can guarantee themselves a playoff spot and another division title is to go 4-0 in these last four games, winning out and keeping the Falcons a minimum of one game behind them with no ground to make up. Tampa Bay’s game against the Chargers is the most difficult of the final four, but injuries to several of their remaining opponents actually puts the Bucs in a more attainable spot than expected.
Tampa Bay is going to have a different looking game against Los Angles compared to other teams they’ve faced this season. The Chargers are a ground-and-pound team that grinds out wins. They don’t get into shootouts like the Bucs do. But, they might be without top receiver Ladd McConkey and quarterback Justin Herbert got banged up pretty badly versus the Chiefs, so he might not be 100 percent either. The Bucs’ following opponent, the Cowboys, already have a backup quarterback in with Cooper Rush in for Dak Prescott and the offense has taken a gigantic hit.
While the Panthers have their quarterback getting into a rhythm, the Bucs should remember that they just went to the brink with Carolina in overtime, and can’t take them lightly. It’s a benefit to the Bucs that they finish their season with two home games against the Panthers and Saints. New Orleans has its own quarterback problems as Derek Carr was just injured again. It would be fantastic to see the Bucs win out, which would put them on a seven-game winning streak to close out the season. That certainly gives the team momentum and is reminiscent of the winning streak in 2020 that ended with a Super Bowl championship.
Bailey Adams: Bucs Go 3-1, But Still (Barely) Win NFC South Again
Bucs TE Cade Otton – Photo by: USA Today
I fully believe the Bucs could win out, going 4-0 over the next four weeks to finish the season 11-6. That would be quite the turnaround from their 4-6 record before the bye week, and the team would be heading into the playoffs on a seven-game winning streak with a lot of momentum behind it. But as much as Tampa Bay could win out, I think this group still has one more slip-up at some point in the coming weeks. Where that happens, I’m not sure, but I still feel that it’s likely.
It could come as soon as this weekend, which would feel like less of a slip-up and more of the Bucs just running into a playoff team all the way on the West Coast. The Chargers have taken on the grind-it-out mentality that Jim Harbaugh loves, and I could see Los Angeles simply finding a way against this Tampa Bay team. At the same time, the slip-up could come on Sunday Night Football in Dallas next week. Maybe it’s one of the remaining home games, which come against a resurgent Panthers team that should’ve beaten the Bucs in Week 13 and a Saints team that often proves difficult regardless of the situation.
Now, 3-1 down the stretch puts the Bucs in danger of giving away the NFC South lead and letting the Falcons take the division crown with a 4-0 finish. But at this point, does Atlanta have that type of finish in it? I won’t say no because I don’t want to be held responsible for any type of jinx. But I do believe that a 3-1 finish for Tampa Bay could still set up a division title four-peat. I think the Falcons drop at least one more game, whether it’s the Commanders or maybe the Panthers. And with both teams finishing 3-1 over the final four weeks, it’s the 10-7 Bucs who would win the division over the 9-8 Falcons.
Josh Queipo: Too Many Three-Win Hedgers In These Parts
Bucs head coach Todd Bowles – Photo by: USA Today
The Bucs have taken down three of the best teams in the NFL this year. Detroit has just one loss this season. It came at the hands of Tampa Bay. The Eagles have only lost twice. One of those losses was to the Bucs. And the Bucs beat a Commanders team who then ripped off four straight wins and currently occupy a playoff spot. The Bucs can and have beat good teams. The Bucs drew the Commanders before rookie Jayden Daniels had fully grasped Kliff Kingsbury’s offense. Detroit fell because of some poor clock management at the end of the first half. And the Eagles lost due to missing both of their top receivers for the game.
And that leads me to the Bucs’ biggest challenge down the stretch. Next week they face the 8-5 Chargers. But this isn’t the same Chargers team from four weeks ago. Renaissance running back J.K. Dobbins is on injured reserve and will undoubtedly miss week 15. Breakout rookie receiver Ladd McConkey isn’t guaranteed to be a go on Sunday, and even if he is he will be less than 100%. Behind him the Chargers’ receiving corps is one of the shallowest in the NFL. And even quarterback Justin Herbert is dealing with his own ailments as he sustained a knee injury in Sunday night’s bout with Kansas City.
It is all lining up to be one of those, “Yeah, the Bucs won, but…” scenarios. The most important part of that quote though is “Bucs won.” And a win against the Chargers should be the final springboard to running the table with a 7-0 record out of the bye week to help the 11-6 Bucs secure the NFC South title for the third consecutive season and the third seed in the NFC playoff picture.
Adam Slivon: The Bucs Get 3 Wins To Hit Double Digits And Secure A Playoff Spot
Bucs OC Liam Coen and QB Baker Mayfield – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR
Looking at the Bucs’ schedule the rest of the way, there are plenty of winnable games. Tampa Bay controls its own destiny the rest of the way, and winning out would allow them to win the NFC South for the fourth straight year. That is the ultimate goal, but with a tough test against the 8-5 Chargers in Los Angeles this Sunday, three wins is what I see the team getting. The Chargers possess a lot of talent on both sides of the ball, and with their defense only allowing 15.9 points per game, Tampa Bay’s offense will have a tough time replicating the success they have had throughout the year.
That brings the rest of the schedule more into focus should they lose in Week 15. Last month, the Cowboys looked to be a lot tougher of a draw as with Dak Prescott, they had an elite passing offense and enough “star power” to pull out the win. With Prescott out for the year and Dallas sitting at just 5-8, the Bucs should get back in the win column at 8-7. Matchups against the Panthers and Saints bode well for the team, as they have already beaten them once this season in enemy territory.
Even though Bryce Young has played better as of late, Tampa Bay is the more talented squad on both sides of the ball. Seeing Dave Canales’ offense again should work more in Todd Bowles’ favor in knowing what to expect and game-planning against their weapons. The Saints have been up-and-down, and after dropping 51 points on their division rival back in Week 6, they should have no problem beating a team heading toward a full rebuild. After things once looked bleak at 4-6, the Bucs’ schedule looked extremely favorable. Things have started to fall into place and they have shown enough fight to win three games in a row. Winning three more games would get them to 10-7, which should be enough to win the division or secure the last Wild Card spot.
