The PewterReport.com Roundtable features the opinions of the PR staff as it tackles a topic related to the Tampa Bay Bucs each week.

This week’s topic: Will the Bucs finish 5-11 again?

Scott Reynolds: No, They’ll Beat Atlanta
Tampa Bay has two games left in another very disappointing campaign. At 5-9, the Bucs are assured of another losing season, and the franchise has just two winning records in the last decade. Can the Bucs show any improvement and perhaps generate a little momentum for 2019 with a win or two at the end of the season in games at Dallas and home against Atlanta?

There is a big psychological difference between being 5-11 and 7-9, as a 5-11 record represents another double-digit losing season and matches last year’s mark. However, a 7-9 record is a two-win improvement over the previous year and might help the cases of head coach Dirk Koetter and general manager Jason Licht getting one more year in Tampa Bay to try to turn things around.

Bucs QB Jameis Winston gets sacked – Photo by: Getty Images

Dallas lost last week in embarrassing fashion to Indianapolis, 23-0, and the defeat, combined with wins by Philadelphia and Washington loosened the Cowboys’ grip on first place in the NFC East. The Bucs will almost assuredly receive the Cowboys’ best game at home in JerryWorld on Sunday as Dallas attempts to cling to the lead for the division title. I can’t see this banged up Bucs team winning in Dallas on Sunday after two straight losses to New Orleans and Baltimore.

However, I can see Tampa Bay beating Atlanta at home to end the 2018 season with a 6-10 record. Atlanta is also 5-9 and the loser would likely get last place in the NFC South – something the Bucs are quite used to, unfortunately. The Falcons beat the Bucs in Atlanta earlier in the season, 34-29, and are coming off a 40-14 win against Arizona that snapped a five-game losing streak against a few really good teams, including Dallas, New Orleans and Baltimore. A win over the Falcons is hardly assured, but it is more likely than an upset in Dallas.

Because the Bucs have played far better at home than they have on the road this year, I’ll go out on a limb and say Tampa Bay messes up its shot at a higher draft pick and beats the Falcons in Week 17 to finish 6-10.

Mark Cook: No, They Will Win One Of The Last Two
Another football season almost over and another year of disappointment. I have covered this team on a full-time basis since 2011 and have yet to see a playoff run. Not only have I not seen the playoffs, I have seen four different head coaches (Raheem Morris, Greg Schiano, Lovie Smith and Dirk Koetter), MRSA, two general managers (Mark Dominik, Jason Licht, players suing the team (Lawrence Tynes) a second-round kicker (Roberto Aguayo, a first-round quarterback meltdown (Josh Freeman), a near fistfight in the locker room between a player (Aqib Talib) and a Bucs beat writer, a team completely tank the final game of the season to secure a No. 1 draft pick and that is just the beginning. My tell-all book is going to be pretty good one day after I retire.

But mainly what I have seen is a lot of bad football with a few teases of potential in between.

Bucs head coach Dirk Koetter – Photo by: Getty Images

I am never one to say a team should lose only to get a better draft pick. The fans are paying real money, the players’ checks clear every week, so the team should always go out and try and win every single game they play. I get the other side of the argument, but I just don’t agree with it. And as Demar Dotson said last Sunday in Baltimore, he isn’t trying to save Koetter’s job, but he is trying to save his. Every player should be thinking along those lines.

But back to the original topic, while many fans might be hoping against winning another game, I think they do manage to win one, most likely the Falcons game. Let’s face it – it is most likely Koetter’s last game, could be Gerald McCoy’s last time in red and pewter, and perhaps even the last Bucs game with Jameis Winston as quarterback. I do think the team doesn’t want to embarrass itself and finish 5-11 again, although 6-10 isn’t a huge leap, but it is a little better than 5-11.

Can the Bucs beat the Cowboys? Sure, they can beat most team’s on any given Sunday, but Dallas has a lot more to play for than Tampa Bay does, and well, we have seen how bad this team is on the road. Why would it change this Sunday?

In two seasons under Koetter, the Bucs won their season finales – even as underdogs and not a lot of motivation to win. Yet, they beat the Panthers in 2016 to finish 9-7, and beat the Saints last season to notch their fifth win last year. If I am following the trend of the team playing bad road football, I need to follow the trend of them closing the season with a win at home against an NFC South opponent.

So they will win against the Falcons, make some fans mad in the process by screwing up a higher draft pick, and we in the media will gear up for what looks like another offseason of change. And I’ll probably have some new notes for that tell-all book I’ll be writing down the road.

Trevor Sikkema: No, Because I Said 7-9
Trevor, are you really just saying this because you wan to be right?

You’re damn right I am! Two straight coming up!

… Okay, maybe not.

I did predict the Bucs to go 7-9 to start the season, as did Mark Cook — Scott said they’d be 8-8. There are a few games I could point to that should have gone the other way that would have made my prediction look a little better, but I digress.

I do not think the Bucs win another game this season, which means, yes, I think they will finish 5-11. I think that the Cowboys are going to come at them with everything they’ve got. I think that wide receiver Amari Cooper is going to get the better of the Bucs beat up cornerbacks, and even a quarterback, who I think is one of the most hot and cold in the league in Dak Prescott will have a good day against the Buccaneers defense. They have everything to play for, and if momentum goes their way early, I can’t see the Bucs bouncing back – their leaders and their coaches have yet to show they have that capability. Also, the Cowboys have to win to keep pace to make the playoffs, as the Eagles are hot on their trail.

Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

As for Atlanta, I know that it’s the last game of the year and it’s at home, and honestly, the Bucs should win, but why would I think they would? A defense whose best defensive players got disrespected by the rest of the NFL when they were left out of the Pro Bowl? A team playing for a coach they know won’t be their coach the following Monday? I just don’t see it. If the players can get up and get focused to beat Atlanta, good for them. I just can’t say I predict it happening.

The good news is 5-11 will likely solidify their Top 10 pick status in the draft – since December is typically draft season in Tampa Bay.