The Tampa Bay Buccaneers ended the 2024 regular season with a 10-7 record, which was tied for the sixth-best in the NFC. In a prediction of all 272 regular-season games in 2025 done by Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr, the Buccaneers will finish at the top of the conference.
If the prediction comes true, it would be the first time in team history that Tampa Bay will enter the playoffs as the top seed in the NFC. The Buccaneers took home the two seed back in 2021, but have yet to capture the top spot.
Orr has Tampa Bay winning 12 games and losing five, with the only other NFC team with more than 10 wins being the San Francisco 49ers at 11-6. The Buccaneers’ 12-5 record would be tied for the best in the league alongside the Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills.
After losing the first two games of the season to the Atlanta Falcons and Houston Texans, the only other losses for Tampa Bay come at the Seattle Seahawks in Week 5, at the Los Angeles Rams in Week 12 and at the Carolina Panthers in Week 16.
A Weak Schedule Could Make the Difference
According to ESPN’s strength of schedule rankings, the Buccaneers hold the 14th-easiest schedule in the NFL, seventh-easiest in the NFC. Their combined opponents’ win percentage from 2024 was .481, including five playoff teams from last year.
Fortunately for Tampa Bay, the last six games of its 2025 schedule feature a group of teams that went a combined 39-63 in 2024. It should be a good chance for the Buccaneers to stack a chunk of wins together right before the playoffs start.
The rest of the NFC’s best teams from 2024 have much harder schedules heading into this season. Five of the six other squads to make the playoffs last year are in the top eight for most difficult schedules for the upcoming campaign, and none play fewer than eight former playoff teams.
The Buccaneers Have a ‘Sneaky Deep Roster’
In his prediction, Orr points out that the reason he feels comfortable mocking wins against some of Tampa Bay’s more difficult opponents is due to its “sneaky deep roster.” Depth is always important in the NFL, with frequent injuries potentially derailing teams’ seasons every year.
On both sides of the ball, the Buccaneers have players outside of the household names and starters who are potential difference-makers either within a rotation, or if an injury were to occur.
When ranking position groups across all of the teams in the NFL, PFF has Tampa Bay at sixth in the league for their running back room and offensive line. The team’s wide receiver group is ranked second.
The running back group is deep, featuring a great one-two punch of Bucky Irving and Rachaad White, who have both finished seasons with over 1,000 all-purpose yards. The duo has a few guys quietly making names for themselves down the depth chart as well.
On the offensive line, there’s a solid starting five, with a backup tackle duo who have started a combined 63 games between Michael Jordan and Charlie Heck, along with a young rotation of players backing up the interior.
Ranked as the number two unit in the league, the Buccaneers’ wide receivers run deep, with six players who could make a genuine impact on most teams in the league. With a mix of veterans and young talent, the wideouts should be Tampa Bay’s biggest strength.
Although the Buccaneers’ defense struggled against the pass at times in 2024, the group should improve this year. Defending the run was a big strength of the team last season, hoping to replicate the campaign that featured them giving up the fourth-least yards per game on the ground.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Buccaneers Predicted to Finish as the Number One Seed in the NFC appeared first on Heavy Sports.