As the season is over, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 2012 opponents are now known. The Bucs will face every team in their division twice, every team in the AFC West once and every team in NFC East once. In addition, they'll play the last-place teams in the NFC North and NFC West.
Of the Bucs' 16 2012 opponents, 6 will be coming off playoff berths, but this doesn't mean this schedule will be easy. Only two games were influenced by the Bucs' last place finish, and there are plenty of quality teams on the schedule who didn't make it to the playoffs. The Chargers, Eagles, Panthers and Cowboys all fit the bill in that regard.
This is how the schedule shakes out for the Buccaneers, the actual dates won't be known until the NFL sets the final schedule at some point in April:
Home opponents
Atlanta Falcons
Carolina Panthers
New Orleans Saints
Philadelphia Eagles
Washington Redskins
Minnesota Vikings
Kansas City Chiefs
San Diego Chargers
Away opponents
Atlanta Falcons
Carolina Panthers
New Orleans Saints
Dallas Cowboys
New York Giants
St. Louis Rams
Denver Broncos
Oakland Raiders