The Buccaneers will play four more games regardless of the result of Sunday’s matchup with the Falcons, but the chances that those games are meaningful will go way down if they don’t win.
Atlanta is 6-6 and they’ve already beaten the Bucs this season, so another loss would make the path to a division title in Tampa a very difficult one. Those circumstances explain why right guard Cody Mauch said the team is adopting a playoff mentality as they prepare for their trip to Atlanta.
“We’re treating it like a playoff game, because, really, for us, it is,” Mauch said, via Jenna Laine of ESPN.com. “You’ve got to keep winning, especially these division games. That’s just kind of the mentality for us.”
That feeling comes from the top down. Head coach Todd Bowles said at his Wednesday press conference that “every game we play from here on out is a playoff game” and that this game is of particular importance.
“December football,” Bowles said. “It’s a round-robin tournament until the end. We understand the importance of this game. If we can win this one, the next game will be more important than that one. It’s the biggest game this week, it’s the only game this week. It’s a division rival. They’re one game ahead of us. We know we’ve got to try to catch up, they know they’ve got to keep a lead.”
The stakes are clear and we’ll find out soon enough if the Bucs are up to the task.
