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The Bucs drop down a few places this week, after losing a very close game to a quality opponent. That's a shame, as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers played for about three quarters on Sunday, but couldn't keep it together for the final 15 minutes. The result: a small drop in the rankings, as the Bucs go from 20th to 21st on average in this week's power rankings.
SB Nation - 24th (down from 19th):
They don't deserve to fall this far but there's always a team that gets screwed. Tampa Bay played the Giants
tough in one of the most exciting regular season games in recent memory.
Jason Garrett and Mike Shanahan are up next on the Greg Schiano friendship tour.
Fox Sports (Brian Billick) - 18th (up from 19th):
Tampa Bay showed us flashes on Sunday, but giving up 510 passing yards isn't going to win too many games. I suggest they play harder during the first 59:55 so they don't need to be in 4-point stances when the other team tries to take a knee.
Pro Football Talk - 22nd (up from 23rd):
As it turns out, crashing a victory formation creates even more buzz than doing Hard Knocks.
National Football Post - 21st (down from 20th):
The Tampa secondary played big in the first half vs. the Giants, but they vanished when they had a shot to close out the game.
CBS Sports (Pete Prisco) - 24th (down from 20th):
That was a tough loss against the Giants, but they showed well on the road against a good team. They're feisty under Greg Schiano, that's for sure.
NFL.com Power Poll - 21st (down from 18th)
NFL.com (Elliot Harrison) - 18th (no change):
Despite the loss, you have to like the way Tampa is competing these days. This is a different team than the one that dropped 10 in a row to close out 2011. Then again, the Bucs blew coverages all around the park on Sunday. Everyone in Tampa's secondary got toasted, and the club paid for it with a loss.