Fly Eagles Fly...a Call to Philly Fan

By JC De La Torre

Okay Philly fan...you don't like us, we don't like you. We took your Super Bowl and Stanley Cup, you took our World Series. Our teams have had bitter, titanic battles over the years and if one thing is certain, we will again. But now is not the time to dredge up all that hatred, now's the time to come together with a common goal - keep the Cowboys out of the playoffs.

While I expect (okay, the way the team has played the last few weeks maybe hope is a more operative word) that the Buccaneers will defeat the Oakland Raiders on Sunday, the game is meaningless if the Eagles fall. As disappointing as a Bucs victory would be for the Eagles and their fans - it doesn't mean there's nothing left to play for. When you kickoff at 4:15, its entirely possible that Philadelphia will already be eliminated from post season contention and its left some Bucs fans wondering if the Eagles and their fans will lie down for Dallas. I know some Eagle fans, even begrudgeonly call some my friends - and I couldn't imagine that happening.

Its still Dallas. And if your boys can't go, what would be better than keeping T.O., Romo, and Jerr-ruh Jones out of the post season? What would be better than sending ESPN and NFL Network's favorite into the off-season with two straight defeats to open their new mecca of Pro Football? Imagine the chaos that would ensue if Tampa Bay, with their dearth of names that anyone but true pro football fans would recognize goes to the post season while Dallas' galaxy of stars have to sit at home and watch on TV...

So, no matter what happens around 4pm eastern time, Eagle fans - there's still something to cheer for. We'll be cheering for your team and you just can't imagine how difficult that is for Tampa Bay fans...imagine having to cheer for Dallas or the Giants to get you into the playoffs - that's how it is for us. So give it all you got, Philly Fan...you'll feel better about it because no one brings out the hate like Dallas does...and we'll feel better for it because we'll be able to salvage something out of this late season collapse.

Of course, if the Bucs continue to circle the drain and choke against Oakland, all this is moot...but you know what? We'll still root for you guys because nobody wants to see Dallas in the playoffs (except Cowboys fans).

GO BUCS....and (ugh) E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!

Cowboys Go Down Against Baltimore

By JC De La Torre


The first part of the clinching scenario for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers fell into place when the Baltimore Ravens stunned the Dallas Cowboys 33-24 at the final game at Texas Stadium. If Tampa Bay defeats the San Diego Chargers Sunday, all they would need to clinch this week is a loss by Atlanta on the road against the tough Minnesota Vikings.

Carolina has clinched a playoff spot as a result of Dallas loss. The Bucs still have division hopes but need Carolina to lose Sunday Night against the Super Bowl Champion New York Giants and the following week at New Orleans.

TBSB Buccaneers NFC Playoff Scenario Madness - Week 16

By JC De La Torre

Current NFC Playoff Standings

Seed Team Record (conf rec) Remaining Games

1. NY Giants 11-3 (8-2) Car, @Min

2. Carolina 11-3 (7-3) @NYGiants, @NO

3. Minnesota 9-5 (7-3) Atl, NYGiants

4.Arizona 8-6 (6-5) @NE, Seattle

5.Dallas 9-5 (7-4) BAL, @Phi

6.Tampa Bay 9-5 (8-4) SD, Oak

---------------------------------------------

Atlanta 9-5 (6-4) @Min, St. Louis

Philadelphia 7-5-1 (6-4) Clev, @WAS, DAL

Chicago 8-6 (6-5) GB, @Hou

Washington 7-7 (6-4) Phil, @San Fran

New Orleans 7-7 (4-6) @DET, Carolina

Seattle 3-11 (3-8) NYJets, @Ari

St. Louis 2-12 (2-8) SF, @Atl

The following is the a deep dive breakdown of playoff scenarios for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the NFC for Week 16. You'll only find this detailed of a breakdown here at the JC De La Torre's Tampa Bay Sports Blog, we'll update it each week as the Bucs progress through the final quarter of their schedule. BTW, Yahoo has put together this awesome Playoff Scenario Generator that helps you put everything in perspective

It was an extremely rough week for the Bucs' playoff hopes, not only did Carolina pull away from the rest of the pack in the NFC South, the Bucs are now in a dog fight with the team they lost a gut-wrenching heartbreaker in overtime to yesterday, the Atlanta Falcons, for the final playoff spot. When the season comes to a close it may be a victory by the 3-11 Seattle Seahawks over the 2-12 St. Louis Rams that proves to be the difference in the Bucs making or missing the playoffs. The Bucs are currently the 6th and final seed in the NFC...barely, but despite the loss to Atlanta, the Bucs do have some control of their own destiny. If they win both their final games, they should take the final playoff spot...we think...if the Rams lose out...and the Cowboys stay ahead of the Eagles....oh boy...actually, it is a lot clearer than that. The Bucs do control their own destiny - if they win their last two games, they are in the playoffs.

Here's where we stand going into Week 16 -

Clinched

New York has clinched the NFC East

Arizona has clinched the NFC West

This Week’s Clinching Scenarios

The winner of the Carolina-NY Giants game Sunday night will clinch home field advantage throughout the playoffs in the NFC.

If Carolina wins, they clinch the NFC South title.

Minnesota can clinch the NFC North with a victory over Atlanta and a loss by Chicago to Green Bay.

Dallas can clinch a playoff spot with a victory over Baltimore and a loss by Tampa Bay or Atlanta AND Philadelphia

Atlanta can clinch a playoff spot with victory over Minnesota and a loss by Tampa Bay AND Philadelphia OR Dallas.

Bucs Scenarios

The Bucs can clinch a playoff spot with a victory over San Diego and a loss by Atlanta AND Philadelphia (assuming the Eagles defeat Cleveland tonight) OR Dallas loss to Baltimore.

Future Cast – Buccaneers

If the Bucs Win Out –

The division appears to be out of reach, but if the Panthers lose their final two games at New York and at New Orleans, the Bucs can mathematically still win the NFC South. Thanks to Seattle's victory over St. Louis and Dallas staying ahead of Philadelphia, the Buccaneers would win a three-way tie between the Bucs, Panthers and Falcons. The Bucs would get the Panthers on conference record, while the Bucs and Falcons will go down to the strength of schedule tie-breaker, which the Buccaneers would win.

Here's the breakdown of the Atlanta-Tampa Bay tie-breaker scenario -

Bucs/Falcons tie-breakers

1. Head-to-Head – Even (1-1)

2. Division record – Even - Tampa Bay 3-3, Atlanta 3-3

3. Common Games – Even - New Orleans, Carolina, Green Bay, Denver, Kansas City, MinnesotaDetroit, San Diego,Chicago, Oakland (assuming both win out) – Tampa Bay 9-3, Atlanta 9-3

4. Conference Record (Assuming both win out) – Even - Tampa Bay 8-4, Atlanta 8-4

5. Strength of Victory – Currently Bucs lead - Tampa Bay 54-72 .428, Atlanta 51-75 .404, if both teams win out, they will be tied 62-94.

6. Strength of Schedule – Currently Bucs lead – Tampa Bay 106-118 .473, Atlanta 104-118-1 .466 – As long as Dallas has a better record than Philadelphia, the Bucs will win this tie-breaker

So basically, this fluid strength of victory flipped for the Bucs this week with Seattle's victory over St. Louis, if both the Bucs and Falcons win out, their strength of victory will be tied, forcing them to the sixth tie-breaker, which favors Tampa Bay. If Dallas, Tampa Bay, and Atlanta all win out, Dallas is the 5 seed, Tampa Bay the 6 and Atlanta's home for christmas.

If the Bucs lose to either San Diego or Oakland -

The Bucs are eliminated from the division race. For the Bucs to be able to make the playoffs, Atlanta must lose to Minnesota and Philadelphia (assuming they win tonight), must lose one of their remaining two games. If Atlanta defeats Minnesota, they will own the advantage in common opponents as Bucs would fall to 8-4.

If the Bucs lose out -

The Bucs are out of the playoffs.

Earliest the Bucs can Clinch a playoff spot

Week 16 - The Bucs can clinch a playoff spot with a victory over San Diego and a loss by Atlanta AND Philadelphia (assuming the Eagles defeat Cleveland tonight).

Earliest the Bucs can clinch the NFC South -

Week 17 - The Bucs would need to win out and Carolina would need to lose out.

Week 16 - Who to Root For -

Bucs to beat San Diego - if the Bucs lose this game, their chances for the post-season decrease dramatically. The final two games are MUST WINS.

Baltimore to defeat Dallas - Drops Dallas to 6 losses on the season and with a Bucs victory over San Diego would allow Tampa Bay to control their own destiny.

San Francisco over St. Louis - Need to keep the Rams down...or strength of victory could flip yet again.

Seattle over the NY Jets - Need to keep the Seahawks up...see above

Minnesota to defeat Atlanta - Would break the tie with the Falcons if the Bucs win.

Washington to defeat Philadelphia - This would pretty much eliminate the Eagles from contention.

NY Giants to defeat Carolina - It would keep the NFC South in play for the Bucs if they win.

The Bucs Fan Thanksgiving Primer

By JC De La Torre

Wow, its amazing isn’t it? Turkey day is upon us already and we have our annual excuse to gorge ourselves on fowl, corn, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, and all the other fixings that are traditional for your family. There’s one other meal that this certain Thursday on the calendar fulfills and that’s our appetite for NFL Football.

For Buc fans, Thursday will matter a little bit. Tampa Bay is currently 8-3, tied for first place in the NFC South. If the playoffs were to begin today, the Bucs would have a 1st round bye. The Bucs desperately want to hold on to the division title and that bye. It’s a lot easier to reach the Super Bowl by winning two games than three. Certainly, there’s been cases where the eventual Super Bowl Champions made it there by going through the wildcard round (our current champions are prime example), but its certainly an easier road to battle your way through a tough divisional fight, then get a week off, play a home playoff game – win it – and then play for the right to go to the Super Bowl. That’s the formula that worked so well in 2002 for Tampa Bay.

In fact, if you think about it, the similarities between 2002 and this season are uncanny.

1. The Bucs lost the season opener to New Orleans 02 and this year.
2. If the Bucs win the division and earn a bye, Atlanta has a darn good shot at making the playoffs as a wildcard. The Falcons were a wildcard in 2002 as well.
3. With a win over Carolina on the road in two weeks, the Bucs will sweep the season series with the Panthers. The last time that happened? You guessed it – 2002.
4. If the Bucs and Giants advance to the NFC Championship game, the Bucs will face a team in the playoffs that eliminated them the year before. The last time that happened? Yep. 2002.
5. With a victory over the New Orleans Saints this week, the Buccaneers will improve to 9-3 after 12 games. The last time the Bucs stood 9-3 after 12 games? 2002.
6. In 2002 the Buccaneers defense was a Top 5 unit but weren’t number one. The Bucs defense this year is a Top 5 unit – but they aren’t number one.
7. This year Buccaneers faced their old rivals in the NFC North and swept them. The last time the Bucs swept the NFC North? 2002.

It’s like that horrible Jim Carey Movie, the Number 23, but you get the idea. To keep the good vibes rolling for the Buccaneers, they will be taking a keen interest in the goings on this Thursday.

Tennessee at Detroit 12:30pm EST– This game is essentially meaningless to the Buccaneers, other than hoping that our former buddies Rod Marinelli, Joe Barry, Jimmy Lake, Ryan Nece, Brian Kelly, Dewayne White, Kalvin Pearson, and the other Buccaneer alumni get off the snide and find a victory. On the other hand, the Lions inch closer to replacing the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the last team to go winless in a non strike year. Plus, if the Lions go 0-16 this year, they only need to start 0-10 next year to break the Buccaneers record of 26 straight losses.

Bucs fans should root for: Detroit, Rod’s to great a coach and guy to live in oh-mortality

Seattle at Dallas 4:00pm EST – Well, in a perfect world, the Bucs would win the NFC South and not have to worry about wildcard tie-breakers but we all know the Bucs have a tough slate down the stretch and could very well be concerned about wildcard positioning. A loss by Dallas to Seattle would help the Bucs chances significantly.

Bucs fans should root for: Seattle, another loss for Dallas gives the Bucs a bit more cushion between them and America’s team.

Arizona at Philadelphia 8pm EST – Buccaneer fans will find themselves in the unenviable position of rooting for the Eagles Thursday night. With the NFC North’s Chicago Bears a full two games back, the Arizona Cardinals (along with the teams in the Bucs’ own division) are the primary competition for Tampa Bay achieving a first round bye.

Bucs fans should root for: Philadelphia, Yes Buc fans, I know it’s difficult for us to find a way to root for success for any team from Philadelphia – but on Thursday night, we’ll need to do it. A loss by the Cards would give the Bucs a two game buffer for the bye week, saddle Arizona with another conference loss and allow Tampa Bay to simply concentrate on taking care of business within the NFC South, also giving the Bucs a little wiggle room if they stub their toe in one of the remaining divisional games.

Bucs O Shoots Blanks in Big D, Tampa Bay falls 13-9

By JC De La Torre

The Bucs rolled into Dallas to face Team Disarray but were sent home with an opportunity lost, falling in a frustrating 13-9 defeat to the Dallas Cowboys.

The Bucs wasted yet another tremendous performance by the Buccaneers defense, where they held their opponent under 200 yds of total offense for the third straight game.

Bucs took the lead with two first quarter field goals by kicker Matt Bryant. It was an early indicator as the Bucs failed to score on promising drives and had to settle for three points. Dallas had one of their few drives of the day, cashing in with a Nick Folk field goal with 9:02 left in the first half. After a missed 51 yd field goal by Matt Bryant, Dallas got possession of the football in good field position, with under a minute left in the first half. On 3rd and long, Tampa Bay's Ronde Barber made a tackle that would have saved a first down and forced a punt, but the Zebras would give the Cowboys new life with a "horse collar" personal foul penalty on Barber. The same "horse collar" type tackle was performed by the Cowboys earlier in the game and occurred again in the 2nd half - but was not called. This penalty began a succession of 4 straight penalties against the Buccaneer defense that set the Cowboys 1st and goal at the 3 with 0:06 left in the half. Dallas QB Brad Johnson would connect with new Cowboys WR Roy Williams on a "jump ball" touchdown pass, and the Cowboys led 10-6 at the half.

At the start of the 2nd half, the newest Buccaneer, Returner Clifton Smith, would cough up the football on the opening return of the half, setting the Cowboys up 1st and 10 at the Bucs 48 (Dallas was penalized with a personal foul for a late hit that apparently happened during the scrum for the football). The Bucs D would stiffen and prevent any further damage. After an exchange of punts, the Cowboys managed to move in to Bucs territory and get another 45 yd field goal from their Pro Bowl kicker, Nick Folk, to extend the lead to 13-6.

In the fourth quarter, a beautiful 31 yd reception by Alex Smith set up a 41 yd Matt Bryant field goal to close the gap to within four. The Bucs would get a few more chances but failed, the last of which, a two minute drill where the Bucs would convert two fourth downs to get it to the Dallas 21 yd line but a final 4th and 5 pass from Garcia to Jeremy Stevens would go incomplete. Game over, Dallas wins. The Bucs outgained Dallas 262-172. Dallas superstar Terrell Owens was grumpy, held to 33 yds on 5 receptions. Dallas running back Marion Barber was held to a 2.8 average, rushing for 71 yds on 25 carriers. The Bucs weren't any better offensively. Earnest Graham was held in check, with only 42 yds on 17 carries. Antonio Bryant had 7 receptions for 46 yds and there was a Joey Galloway siting for the Bucs, as Galloway hauled in 3 catches for 38 yds.

With the 13-9 loss, the Buccaneers fall to 5-3, ending the second quarter stretch a disappointing 2-2, and tumble out of first place in the NFC South. Dallas, meanwhile, gets a big victory that helps stop the bleeding at least for one week. Next up for the Bucs, another struggling team on the road, the Kansas City Chiefs.