The Tampa Bay Buccaneers haven't played very good football this season. They've started 1-5, and although the defense is slowly getting better, the offense hasn't caught up. The Bucs haven't won a game at home and currently hold the worst record in the NFC.
Because of all that, the team has arguably the most important game on its schedule already. The Bucs are set to play the division rival Carolina Panthers, and while all NFC South games are important, this game could be the game that sets Tampa Bay back on the path to contention — or so far down the depths that they cannot climb back up.
Here's why a Tampa Bay loss to Carolina could end their season just eight weeks into the year:
Buccaneers Face Doom With Loss to Panthers
The math isn't in favor for Tampa Bay with a loss against Carolina in multiple respects.
The first? Their record would be 1-6 were they to fall to the Carolina Panthers, and history would bury them. No NFL team has ever made the playoffs after a 1-6 start, with only four teams at 1-5 ever moving on to the postseason. The Buccaneers could be the first, of course, but the chance that they make the playoffs would become nigh impossible.
The NFC South is an easy division, though, so Tampa Bay does have that on its side — unless it loses. The Bucs are playing the Panthers on Sunday, and the Panthers lead the NFC South with a 3-2 record. The Bucs are 2.5 games out of first place, but naturally, a Panthers win puts them 3.5 games out of first place. That wouldn't be absolutely impossible to overcome, but it put Carolina at a massive advantage heading into the rest of the year.
No season is truly over just seven games in. But Tampa Bay has struggled tremendously ever since the season began, and there hasn't been much hope outside of the Dallas Cowboys game the Bucs won that they'll get anything going anytime soon.
The Bucs play the Panthers at 1 p.m. in Charlotte, North Carolina on Oct. 25. A win keeps them in the fight — a loss may see the season slip away for good.
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