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The 2017 NFL regular season has officially started, which means power rankings are lining up too. You know, that favorite pastime of NFL writers everywhere on Tuesdays. It’s like a ritual.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers haven’t played a game yet, though, so this doesn’t really mean much for them. Given that they were mostly ranked in the mid-teens before today, we shouldn’t be surprised that they’re still largely seen as a middle-of-the-pack team. Everyone else, except for the Miami Dolphins, at least has a win or loss to anchor to. The Bucs have no record.
As I said, the Bucs are mostly seen as being somewhere in the middle. SB Nation’s Adam Stites, for instance, ranked them 13th overall. Similarly, the New York Daily News has them 14th, Sports Illustrated 13th, NJ.com 16th, Niners Nation 17th, NFL.com 12th, ESPN 13th and the Washington Post 17th. One slightly positive exception: USA Today has the Bucs 10th.
A win on Sunday against the Chicago Bears should lift the Bucs solidly in to the top 10. Now that’ll be new.