The 6-3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers and 3-6 San Francisco 49ers have a lot in common. Their coaches are insane, they’re named after occupations that are hard to sign up for, and nobody calls them by their whole names. It’s always “Tampa Bucs” this and “San Fran Niners” that. They also both used to play in the NFC West, back when it was cool.
Do you ever sit and stare at the Bucs stats and wonder how they’re 6-3? I just did that for three solid minutes. I would say they’ve overachieved, but based on their numbers, it’s more like they’ve just overwon. There’s nothing wrong with overwinning, but I hope any delusions of this being a playoff team can be gently discouraged before too long.
If only Tampa played in the NFC West — then they’d be in line for home field advantage. The Niners, meanwhile, are two games out of first place in the West. With four division games left, the horror of a San Francisco playoff run is still very real.
TV time: 4:05 on Fox.
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