What was once a massive division lead has shrunk to just about nothing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Bucs entered their bye week at 6-2 a few weeks ago with a two-game lead over the 4-4 Carolina Panthers, but now, their lead is just half a game after the team has lost four of their last five games and the last three in a row. Tampa Bay's lead has all but vanished, and they'll have to take advantage of an easy schedule in hopes of maintaining their division lead in the next coming weeks.
Here's what the NFC South looks like after Week 12:
The NFC South is NFL's worst division
Team W L T Pct. PF PA Home Away Strk.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 6 5 0 .545 259 284 2-2 4-3 L3
Carolina Panthers 6 6 0 .500 216 269 3-2 3-4 L1
Atlanta Falcons 4 7 0 .364 219 249 2-3 2-4 W1
New Orleans Saints 2 9 0 .182 165 274 1-5 1-4 L1
Woof. The NFC South is not only the only division in football without a positive point differential, but the Buccaneers are leading it at -25, good for 19th in the league overall. The Atlanta Falcons, once considered dead on arrival in the NFC South, beat the New Orleans Saints and, at 4-7, are two games back from the division lead.
The Panthers, Falcons and Saints continue to play poor football, and the Bucs could have taken considerable advantage of this if they did not continue to play poor football themselves — all in all, the NFC South is certainly the NFL's worst division, and that's in part due to Tampa Bay's recent skid.
The Buccaneers dropped yet another game on Sunday night when the Los Angeles Rams blew them out 34-7. The Panthers played the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football and lost that game 20-9, while the Atlanta Falcons, in quarterback Kirk Cousins' first start this season, beat the New Orleans Saints 24-10.
The Bucs will face off against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday in a game that looked like an easy win a few weeks ago but remains dangerous now, especially depending on whether quarterback Baker Mayfield will play with a sprained AC joint he suffered against the Rams. The Panthers will get their own dose of the Rams on Sunday at home, the Falcons will face the struggling New York Jets and the Saints will head to Miami to play the Dolphins.
READ MORE: When will Buccaneers' Bucky Irving return to the field?
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