Buccaneers playoff chances are rising

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are more and more likely to make the playoffs. They’re still not exactly likely to make it there, having a 3-3 record with two wins coming against bad teams isn’t the best starting position, but they’ve certainly been in worse positions over the past decade.

According to Football Outsiders’ projections, the Bucs have a 23.3% chance of making the playoffs, more than twice as high as last week. Meanwhile, FiveThirtyEight gives the Bucs a 31% chance of making the playoffs.

Those chances aren’t great, but they’re much better than they were just three weeks ago, when the Bucs were 1-3. They’re also much better than they’ve been in many previous seasons, when the Bucs have rarely had a record over .500 and a good situation in the division race.

That said, the Bucs still aren’t a good team. Football Outsiders’ advanced stats see the Bucs as the 23rd best team, while FiveThirtyEight’s ELO ranking has the Bucs 24th. So, still cleary in the bottom half of the league.

The Buccaneers have to hope that those analyses are impacted heavily by the injuries the team has struggled with over the past month, injuries that are mostly getting better now. If that’s the case, a playoff run might be in the cards. Or at least a team that remains competitive well into December.