With their dramatic 30-24 win over the Panthers on New Year’s Day, the Bucs clinched the NFC South and the first-round home game that comes with it.

Heading into the final week of the regular season, they’re now 8-8. That’s a mark that is well below the other division winners/leaders in the NFC. As a result, Tampa Bay is locked in as the No. 4 seed. So, Todd Bowles’ team will host the No. 5 seed at Raymond James Stadium in two weeks on Wild Card Weekend.

Who will be the No. 5 seed, then? Well, that’ll be determined by the results of Week 18.

Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: USA Today

It comes down to two teams: the Eagles or Cowboys. Those two are fighting for the NFC East crown next week, with the winner getting a home playoff game and the loser heading to Tampa.

The 13-3 Eagles are in the driver’s seat heading into the final weekend of the regular season. They’ll host the 9-6-1 Giants, who are headed to the playoffs themselves. Philadelphia can clinch the NFC East with a win over New York or a Dallas loss. In the event that the Eagles win the East, the Cowboys will be the No. 5 seed and face the No. 4 seed Bucs.

The 12-4 Cowboys travel to face the 7-8-1 Commanders in Week 18. They need a win and an Eagles loss to clinch the division. If that happens, of course, Philadelphia will be headed to Tampa as the No. 5 seed.

Bucs Familiar With Cowboys, Eagles

No matter who the Bucs end up hosting on Wild Card Weekend, there will be no shortage of familiarity between the two sides. The Bucs and Cowboys faced off back in Week 1, with Tampa Bay winning, 19-3, in Dallas. Those two teams also met to open the 2021 season, with the Bucs beating the Cowboys, 31-29, at home.

Bucs S Antoine Winfield, Jr. – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

If the Eagles end up as the No. 5 seed, that’ll set up the third meeting between them and the Bucs in the last two seasons. Tampa Bay won in Philadelphia, 28-22, in October 2021 before the two teams met again in Tampa on last year’s Wild Card Weekend. That contest wasn’t close, with the Bucs winning, 31-15, to advance to the NFC Divisional Round.

Despite the success the Bucs have had against both teams over the last two seasons, they’d have their work cut out for them with either matchup.

Dallas is much improved from Week 1. Mike McCarthy’s team won six of its next seven games after opening the season with a loss to Tampa Bay. Following the loss to Green Bay to end that run, the Cowboys have again won six of their last seven games to reach 12-4.

The Eagles have been one of the better teams in the NFL all season. They started 8-0 and reached 13-1 before dropping their last two games — one to Dallas and one to New Orleans — with star quarterback Jalen Hurts sidelined. Hurts should be back Philadelphia’s finale, but at the very least, he’d surely be ready to go for the first round of the playoffs.

So, while the Bucs’ playoff positioning won’t be impacted in Week 18, they’re sure to be doing some scoreboard watching.