A massive drop for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the power rankings this week: they go from 24th on average to 26th on average, and now appear to be competing for a top 5 draft pick in the eyes of the national media. That has to be disappointing for a team that has been in every game and has a lot of correctable issues. But the numbers don't lie - and 26th in the NFL is where people think the Bucs belong.
SB Nation - 26th (down from 23rd):
Illegal touching, not as hilarious as it sounds, at least not for Greg Schiano's team.
The Buccaneers are 2-4 despite playing four of their first six at home.
CBS Sports (Pete Prisco) - 28th (down from 24th):
At least they have Josh Freeman going now, but the defense took a major step back against the Saints.
Fox Sports (Brian Billick) - 22nd (up from 24th):
Josh Freeman posted 420 passing yards and was two fluke plays away from combining a career statistical day with a win. By rule, the illegal touching was called correctly, but more upsetting, was that Vincent Jackson got hawked by a safety on the other side of the field.
Pro Football Weekly - 25th (down from 23rd):
Offense lit it up, but still left points on the field.
Pro Football Talk - 26th (down from 24th):
It's time to permanently melt the Creamsicles.
NFL.com (Elliot Harrison) - 26th (down from 23rd):
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers descend three spots, and deservedly so. The Bucs can't afford to blow a game at home to a 1-4 football team, period. Not if they're going to make something out of this season and erase the memory of the 4-12 debacle of 2011. Putting that aside for a moment ... damn those uniforms looked sweet.