20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
It’s sad to see how far the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have fallen. Earlier this season, we were calling this team one of the top contenders in the NFC. The Bucs had it all rolling. They were playing well, finishing games, and looking like they were going to run away with the NFC South by now.
But this is a clear picture of what happens when you leave the door open a crack. Someone will come and kick it open. The “Cardiac Bucs” are now standing on the edge of the proverbial plank, and it’s not even about the Carolina Panthers at this stage. The Bucs just aren’t playing good football as a team.
They let the Falcons come back and beat them on Thursday night, and even Todd Bowles, who is typically extremely reserved, was fired up at his players. Justifiably so. This Bucs team is on the cusp now of missing the playoffs if they don’t figure things out quickly.
19. Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys’ season is now officially hanging on by a thread. They didn’t really have much margin for error to begin with, and the Vikings just eliminated whatever margin the Cowboys had left.
This Dallas defense is just not good enough to compete for the playoffs. We have to face the reality staring us in the face right now. With three games left to play, the Cowboys will have to win out in order to really have any shot at all at making it into the postseason, and even if they get there…what then?
This is a Cowboys team that can light up the scoreboard offensively. Heck, I would argue they have even been great offensively for a good majority of this season. But two out of 12 on third downs? Two out of five in red zone appearances? That’s not a playoff team.