After a disheartening loss to the Falcons at home in Week 8, the Bucs needed to respond in Week 9 and start to get on a bit of a roll considering they lost a key tiebreaker in the NFC South race with that defeat.

Tampa Bay was the last of the four NFC South teams to play in Week 9, as it had a Monday Night Football matchup in Kansas City against the back-to-back Super Bowl champion Chiefs. It was always going to be a tough test for Todd Bowles’ team, but it put itself in position to win from an offensive standpoint. But defensively, there was no getting off the field on third down and after Bowles passed up a chance to have one play to win it late in regulation, the Chiefs went on to win the game in overtime by a score of 30-24.

The Bucs now sit at 4-5 with another tough test against the defending NFC champion 49ers next week before a Week 11 bye. While Tampa Bay did fight well on Monday night, odds would seem to say this is a team that will head into that bye with a 4-6 record off the back of four straight losses.

So, where do things stand in the NFC South race through Week 9 of the 2024 season? It’s time to break it all down.

NFC South Update: Week 9

Falcons QB Kirk Cousins Photo by: USA Today

With the Bucs playing on Monday Night Football, the rest of the NFC South was in action before them in Week 9.

The division-leading Falcons kept things rolling, getting to 6-3 on the season with a 27-21 win over the Cowboys. Atlanta largely kept Dallas at arm’s length throughout the afternoon, with Kirk Cousins touchdown passes to Drake London and Darnell Mooney erasing a 3-0 deficit and turning it into a 14-3 lead.

A Rico Dowdle touchdown catch before halftime did get the Cowboys within 14-10, but a third Cousins touchdown pass made it 21-10 after halftime and Dak Prescott eventually left the game, allowing the Falcons to pretty much cruise to another win.

Cousins was excellent on the day, going 19-of-24 for 222 yards and three touchdowns while Bijan Robinson had a massive afternoon for himself as well. The second-year back ran for 86 yards on 19 carries while catching all seven of his targets for 59 yards. Even Atlanta’s pass rush – which has been a problem this year – mustered up three sacks on the day.

Former Saints HC Dennis Allen – Photo by: USA Today

Elsewhere on Sunday, there was an NFC South matchup between the Panthers and Saints in Charlotte. After New Orleans dominated the Week 1 meeting by a score of 47-10, the Week 9 rematch didn’t go the same way. Just about everything on the stat sheet should’ve led to another Saints win over the Panthers, but the home team did just enough to shock the world and win 23-22 to climb out of the division’s basement.

As ESPN’s Bill Barnwell pointed out Sunday, teams that outgained their opponent by 150+ yards, ran for 150+ yards and won the turnover battle were 275-0 over the previous 20 years. But the Saints made that 275-1 with Sunday’s loss. Chuba Hubbard ran for 72 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries to lead the way for Carolina, and it was Hubbard’s 16-yard touchdown run with 2:18 left that was the difference in the game.

The loss sent the Saints into last place in the NFC South due to the divisional record tiebreaker, and it was the team’s seventh straight defeat after starting 2-0. On Monday, head coach Dennis Allen was fired.

The Bucs went into Monday night knowing they couldn’t gain any ground on the Falcons in the NFC South race. Nonetheless, a win would keep them within one game with still plenty of time to close the gap and potentially overtake them for the top spot in the division. But a win to get to 5-4 was never going to come easy against the Chiefs, and sure enough, it wasn’t to be.

Chiefs TE Travis Kelce and Bucs SS Jordan Whitehead – Photo by: USA Today

After a late 71-yard drive led by Baker Mayfield – which was capped off by a 1-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Miller with 27 seconds to go – head coach Todd Bowles elected to kick the extra point and send the game to overtime rather than take the chance of one play to win the game.

As massive road underdogs against a team that has Patrick Mahomes on the sideline, you’d think that having a chance to win with one play would be appealing. Instead, Bowles played it safe and paid for it in overtime as the Bucs lost the coin toss and the Chiefs drove right down the field to score and win the game 30-24.

Baker Mayfield threw for 200 yards and two touchdowns and Cade Otton had another big night, but 24 points against a defense allowing an average of 17.6 points per game proved to be insufficient. That’s because the Bucs allowed the Chiefs to convert on 12 of their 18 third downs and control possession throughout the game to the tune of a 40:42-25:10 advantage.

Updated NFC South Standings After Week 9:

Atlanta Falcons 6-3 (4-0 in the NFC South)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 4-5 (1-2 in the NFC South)
Carolina Panthers 2-7 (1-2 in the NFC South)
New Orleans Saints 2-7 (1-3 in the NFC South)

Bucs Are Fading Fast And Falling Into A Crowded Wild Card Picture

Chiefs TE Travis Kelce and Bucs NCB Tykee Smith – Photo by: USA Today

The Bucs have now lost three straight games and may face long odds to avoid a fourth straight loss as they host the 49ers on Sunday. Considering Tampa Bay is already two games behind Atlanta for first place in the NFC South and lost the tiebreaker last week, this is a team that is quickly losing any hopes it still had of four-peating as division champions. And to keep their playoff streak alive and extend it to five years, the Bucs are going to have to recover fast and emerge from a crowded NFC Wild Card picture.

Right now, the four NFC division winners would be the Lions (7-1), Commanders (7-2), Falcons (6-3) and Cardinals (5-4). The three Wild Card spots currently belong to the Vikings (6-2), Eagles (6-2) and Packers (6-3). So, not only are the Bucs two games back of first place in the NFC South, but they’re also two games out of the No. 7 seed, which the Packers hold through Week 9.

And it’s not just the fact that Tampa Bay is two games away from a playoff spot with eight games to play. That’s enough time to make up ground. What muddies the water is how many teams are right there in the Wild Card scene. The Bears, 49ers and Rams are all ahead of the Bucs at 4-4. The 4-5 Seahawks are still in the mix as well, so there are plenty of teams “in the hunt” as we get farther into November.

The Bucs have a big opportunity in Week 10 as they host the 49ers, a team that is a half-game better than them and sitting ahead in the NFC Wild Card race. A win in that game and the bleeding stops, plus it’ll have the team at 5-5 heading into a much-needed bye week. But a loss? That would drop Tampa Bay to 4-6 and further down in the mix.