I may have some of this wrong, but the Bucs played much of the season with a depleted team (only 2 starters on the O-line tonight, as one example), including an injured Jameis Winston, and a struggling defense with ZERO pass rush, and no real running game . . .and yet they lost 6 games this season by 4 points (on average) and four of those 6 losses were against playoff teams, right?
New England . . lost by 5
Buffalo . . . lost by 3
Green Bay . . lost by 6
Detroit . . lost by 3
Atlanta . . lost by 3
Carolina . . lost by 3
By NFL.com, the Bucs had the 11th offense but the 32nd defense. If their defense is comparable to their offense, they are the Falcons (10th offense and 11th defense) or the Panthers ( 16th offense, 7th defense) and in the playoffs.
NFL is a tough league and we play in a tough division (3 playoff teams). Lat year the Saints were 7-9 and the Panthers were 6-10, so maybe we are not that far off???
Winston made a similar point from the podium tonight
