By: Robert Craft

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers surprised many fans last year by winning a playoff game after most expected them to be bottom-feeders.

Can they keep out of the bottom this season?

For the Bucs, their nightmare situation involves Baker Mayfield regressing from a solid first year with the team.

Mayfield’s comeback season was the biggest reason why the Buccaneers made the playoffs. He ended the year with a career-high 4,044 passing yards, finishing third-place in Comeback Player of the Year votes.

Mayfield could regress from this past year. For any QB1 there’s no promise that they’ll get better, but at least now the 29-year-old double rookie has a whole season with the Bucs under his belt. There is great opportunity for  further improvement. Mayfield may build, improve, and lead the team to yet another NFC South title.

While the Bucs do face some of the best teams in the NFL (Kansas City Chiefs,  San Francisco 49ers, and Baltimore Ravens), they still have the 27th-easiest schedule based on 2023 game records.

Granted, much of this stems from playing in the NFC South, but there is still plenty of possibility for the Bucs to end the 2024 season with a winning record and even another NFC South title.

The Buccaneers might not have made the splashy headline moves like the Atlanta Falcons in the offseason, but this Tampa Bay team will once again be quite formidable on both sides of the football.

The Buccaneers could very well win the NFC South, making the playoffs for the 5th consecutive season.

However, there is a big difference between just making the playoffs and winning 2 or 3 postseason games to get to the big game.

Tampa Bay has a team capable of securing one of the 7 playoff spots in the NFC, likely be winning the division again. And it proved if there is a home playoff game in Tampa, it’s a tough place for an opponent to play.

Week 1:  vs Commanders (W)

Week 2: at Detroit Lions (L)

Week 3: vs. Denver Broncos (W)

Week 4: vs. Philadelphia Eagles (W)

Week 5: at Atlanta Falcons (L)

Week 6: at New Orleans Saints (L)

Week 7: vs. Baltimore Ravens (L)

Week 8: vs. Atlanta Falcons (W)

Week 9: at Kansas City Chiefs (L)

Week 10: vs. San Franciso 49ers (L)

Week 12: at New York Giants (W)

Week 13: at Carolina Panthers (W)

Week 14: vs. Las Vegas Raiders (W)

Week 15: at Los Angeles Chargers (L)

Week 16: at Dallas Cowboys (L)

Week 17: vs. Carolina Panthers (W)

Week 18: vs. New Orleans Saints (W)

Nine wins would represent another year hot seat talk for Todd Bowles and the Bucs, who finished 8-9 and 9-8 in the previous two seasons respectively.

While the Falcons might end up as NFC South champions thanks to upgrades at quarterback and head coach, Tampa Bay will be in the hunt.