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The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are so close they can almost taste it. Almost.
At 8-5, Bruce Arians and Tom Brady have their squad entering Week 15 with such strong odds to make the postseason (-4550) I can’t imagine anyone betting against them at this point.
There are no guarantees in the NFL though, as only the Kansas City Chiefs, Pittsburgh Steelers, Green Bay Packers, and New Orleans Saints have secured their spot to play into the second week of January 2021.
Ten spots are still up for grabs and according to NFL.com, only the Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Rams, and Seattle Seahawks only need to win their own game to clinch their postseason spots.
For teams like the Buccaneers and Tennessee Titans, a win for them plus help from others punches their tickets.
Specifically, the Titans need to win and get a Baltimore loss to get in. There are several tie combination scenarios, but those odds are likely even more stacked against probability than Tampa Bay missing out on the post-season altogether.
Speaking of the Bucs, they clinch a spot in the 2020-2021 NFL Playoffs with a win over the Falcons and a tie in the NFC North clash between the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears.
This weekend’s game between the Vikings and Bears will be the 120th in the history of the two franchises, and only two have ended in ties previously. So you could say they’re due! Or not.
What could more feasibly happen of course is a Buccaneers (-250) win over the Falcons (+250), and currently, this is the expected outcome with the road team favored by six points entering the weekend.
One of the more popular prop bets and player projections entering the final stretch of the season was whether or not star receiver Mike Evans would reach his seventh-consecutive 1,000-yard season.
After tallying just 56-yards against the Vikings in Week 14, Evans now needs to average 111-yards per game to reach the milestone.
In eleven career games against the Falcons, Evans has reached 111-yards or more twice, but has not since November of 2016.
A lot on the line for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as they face the Atlanta Falcons in Week 15 and the picture for team and individual achievements alike will get a lot more clear after it’s all said and done.