Play off picture help requested

[denthor]

For those of us who do not breath football, but do watch an occasional game.

My favorite team is Tampa Bay I know that they are at the top of there division in the south. 6 wins 4 loses

Where would this land them in the play offs, if they stay there?

Who must they beat to get in is there a way for them to fall out?

Is it to early to speculate?

[silverwhisper]

the division leaders always make it to the playoffs, and as the bucs are in the lead (http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/standings) of the NFC south, they're gonna have to keep on that lead. carolina's banged up, and we all know that new orleans and atlanta just aren't very good just now. so tampa bay winning the division doesn't look exactly unrealistic.

the question to me is how well the bucs might fare against other teams outside of the division.

[Detritus]

Here are the complete standings as of today:

http://www.nfl.com/standings

The Bucs would be the #4 seed in the NFC if the season ended today. They are tied with Seattle but the Seahawks beat TB in Week 1, so Seattle has the tie-breaker over Tampa. I don't think it's very likely that either Green Bay or Dallas comes back to the point where TB might catch them, so the Bucs are basically playing for the #3 seed. That would at least prevent a likely first-round matchup with the Giants.

Tampa's remaining schedule (http://www.nfl.com/teams/schedule?team=TB) is full of winnable games. I would guess that the New Orleans game is the only one that they won't be favorites in. If Tampa beats its other three divisional rivals, they win the NFC South regardless of what else happens.

[denthor]

bump who plays who

[Detritus]

There's still another week left in the season, so the matchups aren't totally set yet.

[silverwhisper]

i must say, the giants victory today impressed me.

[denthor]

The Green Bay loss was the one that made me sit up and take notice.

I was told there were quite a few upsets today. I guess including my bucs losing.

[Detritus]

The playoff seedings are nearly set, but the last spot in each conference is still up for grabs, and either Pittsburgh or San Diego can still finish as the #3 seed in the AFC. #4 seed draws a red-hot Jacksonville club in the first round, whereas the #3 seed will get either Tennessee or Cleveland, so that seeding could make some difference once the playoffs start.

[carmachu]

i must say, the giants victory today impressed me.

Impressed good, or impressed bad?

They won, inspite of Eli, instead of with him......domt expect to get that lucky in the playoffs.

[silverwhisper]

carm: the game against tampa bay will be in tampa bay, which favors the giants for 2 reasons: 1) warm weather = better play by eli, 2) giants are 7-1 on the road.