It’s time to ask: Why not the Bucs?
Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Mike Evans (13) and Jameis Winston (3) celebrate after Evans' touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game against the Philadelphia Eagles, Sunday. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS By Martin Fennelly | Tribune Staff Published: November 25, 2015TAMPA — Why not us?That’s what is on their minds, certainly after their spectacular showing at Philadelphia. It has to be on their minds.Why not the Bucs?Why can’t the Bucs, one game back of the second wild card, become the wildest of cards?Why can’t they win at Indianapolis this weekend? There’s no Andrew Luck. Why can’t they win anywhere?“That’s been our mentality all year: Why not us when it comes to anything?” Bucs rookie offensive tackle Donovan Smith said.“Anything is possible,” said Mr. Five TDs, Jameis Winston, a big reason why his teammates think that way. “Definitely, it’s in our hands.”They’re only 5-5. It might take 10 wins to get a wild card, which means 5-1 down the stretch, or 4-2 if 9-7 is the ticket to the postseason.I still don’t see that happening.But the fact that we’re 10 games into this ball season and that Jameis makes it even remotely fathomable might be enough for Lovie Smith and his team to give thanks.Now come the Colts.“Two 5-5 teams fighting for quite a bit,” Smith said.Why not the Bucs?I know, I know.Close my eyes. Put my head back. Deep breaths.How long had our eyes rolled as Smith talked about being relevant and improving each week?Now the Bucs are on the edge of relevancy, improving as they go.Are we that far away from the “Lovie told us so” portion of the program?On to Sunday and an age-defying matchup: 21-year-old Winston against 40-year-old Colts backup Matt Hasselbeck, who has lost more hair than most young Bucs will ever grow.Winston said Sunday’s plan is simple:“Do what we do better than them.”It’s not Bill Belichick’s “Do Your Job,” but it’ll do.Here are the Bucs, with Jameis, coming off the most road points in their history. Here are the Bucs, with the defense having allowed just 23 points in the past two games, with Doug Martin and a surprisingly resilient O-line. Here are the Bucs, with those cornerbacks from nowhere, with Lavonte David finally cool and calm and playing his game, to the tune of NFC defensive player of the week.Why not the Bucs?It’s the week for that. It’s the week when we wonder if the collapse at Washington might torpedo any playoff hopes — or if it galvanized this team with the scar it left. It’s the week when Bucs players talk about: fun.“Knowing that we can do something special makes it fun to come to work,” center Joe Hawley said. “It’s kind of given new life to everybody.”Three years ago, Hawley played for Atlanta in the NFC title game. He knows the feeling teams get when they win. He felt a little of that Sunday in Philadelphia.“You look at all the touchdowns, when we had so many different guys score,” Hawley said. “And everybody ran over to congratulate them. That doesn’t always happen. Some guys just run off the field. But we’re having so much fun right now. Everybody’s in.”It’s important to remember that 5-5 only means you’ve won as many as you’ve lost. Also remember that in 2012 Greg Schiano had the Bucs at 6-4 through 10 games. The bottom fell out, Josh Freeman included. The Bucs lost 13 of their next 14 games under Schiano and the Glazers showed him the door.“We definitely don’t have the respect around the league that we want,” Bucs cornerback Jude Adjei-Barimah said. “That’s where we are right now, trying to earn that respect. We’ve put ourselves at this point in the season to make a little push in that direction, a real push.”Everybody’s in.“At the end of the day, we still haven’t proven anything,” David said.Hold that thought. And play for respect.