It's official: Bucs locked into fourth seed

I'm sure most of you are sharp enough to figure this out, but just in case you failed to do the math, today's loss locks the Bucs into the fourth seed in the NFC playoffs.

That's pretty much a minor detail at this point, but it does help clarify the playoff picture a bit. The Bucs are now even more likely to meet the Giants in the first round of the playoffs. The Giants have a two-game lead in the wildcard race pending the outcome of tonight's Minnesota-Washington game. If Minny loses, they will fall out of contention for the No. 5 seed.

The fourth seed meets the No. 5 seed in the first round, so that's pretty much what you should expect unless something dramatic changes.

EDIT: Most of you have probably figured this out, but the Bucs will host the Giants after their victory over Buffalo coupled with the Vikings' loss to the Redskins.

Comments

[Chet]

I really hope that the Bucs can get enough work in next week to go into the first game with the timing and offense working right for this first game. If they can stop the run against the Giants, they'll do well. I'm concerned after this week with how the OL played against SF. Without Shockey to open up the middle, the Giants passing game really takes on a different look. They didn't look impressive in their win over Buffalo and haven't looked sharp for the past few weeks.

[Anthony Gironda]

Do they play the Giants on Sunday Jan 6th?

[Nick]

Nick

Coach Gruesome once said, "Winning isn't everything, Losing is much more fun." Trying to figger a new way to Lose is a Real Challenge.

[DR]

Bucs host the Giants, seahawks host the Skins, as of right now, or possibly Vikings. The Bucs and Giants is set in stone. AFC playoff is the same way, with the 6th seed still being played for. It will be interesting what the spread will be in Vegas.

[DR]

Chet, the big match up against the Giants will the Bucs Defensive line against the Giants O-line. If the Bucs don't get a pass rush, Eli will have a good game. They need to rattle Eli. Kiffen needs to come up with a nice blitzing scheme.

[Chet]

DR,

One problem with playing this at home, Eli doesn't have the problems with the weather that have really made him look bad in recent weeks. He was awful against Washington and not good against Buffalo either. I hope White's not hurt badly as having him and Gaines with a good DE rotation with Carter and Spires are going to be necessary. If the bucs can get pressure with their front 4, this will not be much of a problem for the defense.

The OL has to play better then it did against SF, that was really not a good day for pass protection or pushing the line for run yardage. That's the first time in awhile that I can say the OL didn't look good.

[HankWilli]

The Giants may have found their game in the second half of Sunday's game against the Bills. I'd rather play Washington. If the Giants' coaches decide to stick with the run, they could beat us. Still, Garcia has beaten them twice in the playoffs, and his mobility could give them problems. They're good at stopping the run, but susceptible to giving up big passing plays. We've got to throw deep to Galloway to open things up. If we can't, their pass rush will give us headaches. Umenyiora, Strahan and Tuck are a handful.

[j.k.]

Does anyone know what time and day the game is against the Giants?