Technically, every team has a chance of making the playoffs until mathematically eliminated, but it's been a rough season so far for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They have had a historically difficult schedule to this point in the season, and they stand at a mediocre 4-6 with six games remaining in the season. But with a schedule that should get much easier in the coming weeks -- the Bucs face the Titans, Panthers, and Jaguars next -- do the Bucs still have a shot at making a run?
Well...the Buccaneers may technically still have a shot at the playoffs, just like the Pittsburgh Pirates still have a shot of making the playoffs when they're 15 games back in August. Anything is possible mathematically, but it's going to be awfully tough for the Bucs to beat the odds.
Sander from Bucs Nation has a great post up explaining in full why the Buccaneers will have a tough time making the playoffs, and I recommend giving it a read. To whet your appetite, though, here's a snippet:
[T]he Bucs cannot afford to drop more than one game - and even losing one game may be too much to overcome.
The reason for that is simple: there are currently ten NFC teams with a better or equal record to the Bucs' record. Four of those teams will win their division and won't be a problem for the Bucs, but that leaves two NFC East teams, two NFC North teams, one NFC South team and one NFC West team the Bucs need to outperform by significant margins over the next six weeks.