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NFL Playoff Odds: Buccaneers drop to 15% according to Football Outsiders

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers aren't out of the playoff race yet, and their defense is going to have to keep them in it.

By Sander Philipse
Rob Foldy-USA TODAY Sports

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a 15.3% chance of making the playoffs, according to Football Outsiders. Pro: it's still a significant chance, and it's better than the average 0-2 team. Con: only seven teams have a smaller chance of making the playoffs, and the Buccaneers are now at the bottom of their division in playoff odds. Oh boy. Still: the season is far from over.

More interesting is Football Outsiders' DVOA rating, which sadly does not have opponent adjustments this early in the season. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers unsurprisingly fell to 19th in that ranking, two spots down from last week. Their defense remains highly rated, though, as the fifth best defense in the NFL. Unforunately, the 29th NFL offense is not putting up a lot of points. Keep in mind that this is not taking into account opponent adjustments yet.

We all know the offense is bad, so I won't bore you too much with that. Suffice to say that pass bad, run slightly less bad. I do want to note how terrifyingly good this defense has been, though. The Bucs currently have the 6th best pass defense and 8th best run defense in the NFL per Outsiders' rankings. It's not only a good defense: it's a very balanced defense. If the Buccaneers are going to make the playoffs, they will have to do it on the back of stellar defensive effort. And it isn't too later for that.

Of course, for the pessimists, we can also look to draft position. Outsiders gives the Bucs a 12.3% chance of getting a top 3 draft pick right now.

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