Wild, wild mess: Bucs like their postseason chances

Tampa Bay is alive and clicking at 4-6 thanks to several teams falling back and tightening up the NFC wild-card race.

By RICK STROUD
Published November 23, 2004

TAMPA - There's no escaping the sad truth about the NFC this season.

A team that stumbled badly in September, bumbled through October and hasn't crumbled by November will earn a spot in the postseason.

It will be a team that doesn't currently own a winning record, gets hot when the weather turns colder and might need a tiebreaker to claim the final mild, er, wild card.

That's right, a team just like the Buccaneers.

"We're still alive. We're definitely alive," defensive tackle Chidi Ahanotu said. "Believe me, teams don't want to see us in the playoffs. I can promise you that. If we keep our heads down and keep grinding and keep pushing and keep playing the kind of Buc ball we know we can play, when we look up at the end of the season, we'll be in the playoffs and we're going to be dangerous."

The Eagles (9-1) in the NFC East and Falcons in the NFC South (7-2) appear to be locks for the postseason. The Bucs are two games behind the NFC wild-card leader - either the Packers (6-4) or Vikings (6-4), who are tied atop the NFC North. The NFC West, however, might be a sore spot, where Seattle (6-4) and St. Louis (5-5) hold tiebreaker advantages over the Bucs.

Four teams fell into a tie with the Bucs at 4-6 with losses Sunday: the Bears, Cardinals, Lions and Saints. The Cowboys and Redskins fell behind Tampa Bay at 3-7.

The Bucs might have the easiest path to a playoff spot. Only two of their remaining six opponents, the Falcons and Chargers, own winning records. Tampa Bay also has two games remaining with the Panthers (3-7) and one each with the Saints (4-6) and Cardinals (4-6).

"I don't really think we're competing with anybody else but ourselves," coach Jon Gruden said Monday. "We've just got to win some games. The more you concentrate on standings, the more you look at other teams and their schedules and what they're going to do, the more complex it gets. We just have to take care of business. If we can win a game on Sunday (at Carolina) and get to 5-6, we can stay alive and do well in this race."

The Bucs' 35-3 win over the 49ers was their most complete game of the season. The defense was dominant, allowing 26 total yards in the first half. Running back Michael Pittman reached the 100-yard rushing mark for the third time in four games. And receivers Joe Jurevicius (two touchdowns) and Joey Galloway have battled back from injuries.

"I think we have a good football team," Gruden said. "We feel like we're making strides on offense. It's a credit to our defense. (Sunday), they were dominant. Special teams, Martin Gramatica kicked the ball well and the coverage was good.

"I'm very optimistic we can go on a roll."

The Bucs haven't won three straight games since the 2002 season. But players are becoming less reluctant to discuss their playoff chances.

"The NFC is wide open, man," guard Cosey Coleman said. "Any time you have Atlanta as the No. 2 seed, no disrespect to them, but Atlanta is Atlanta. They've been Atlanta for a while now. But they've got a new coach and he's turned that ballclub around. That's just the way the NFC has unfolded. Them and Philly, they're kind of in front of everybody and we're kind of fighting" for the last two playoff spots.

The Bucs also are trying to make history. No team has started the season 0-4 and reached the playoffs since the San Diego Chargers in '92.

"You have to have a goal to get to the playoffs," Gruden said. "If we can't get in the Super Bowl tournament, you don't have a chance to win it. But again, we just try to concentrate on our game. We had a terrible start, four straight losses. It's a credit to our coaches, our fans and our players for putting ourselves in position to make a late-season run at this. But there are no guarantees. We have to play great on Sunday because Carolina still is a good football team."

[Last modified November 23, 2004, 00:12:19]