With a good chunk of their roster working its way through various injuries, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are more than happy to be spectators this weekend. The bye week is undeniably welcome for the Buccaneers, who are waiting on the returns of such key players as Mike Evans, Jamel Dean and Tristan Wirfs. The Bucs are hoping to get healthy, get a mental reset after a four-game losing streak and get ready to go on a stretch-run tear in an effort to capture a fourth straight NFC South title.
Of course, that means no Buccaneers football for the rest of this weekend, no Baker Mayfield or Bucky Irving or Vita Vea to root on and cheer to victory. Which means we rabid Tampa Bay fans will have to turn our attention elsewhere for our NFL fix. Fortunately, there are 14 games being played between Thursday and Sunday, and quite a few of them have significant playoff implications. We've got the always entertaining Chiefs-Bills game featuring Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen; we've got a Monday night battle for the state of Texas; we've got a key showdown in the crowded NFC West; and we've got Lamar Jackson and Russell Wilson battling for pole position in the AFC West.
More importantly, what does it all mean for the Buccaneers? If you're watching, say, the Seahawks play the 49ers, which team should you be rooting for if your main concern is Tampa Bay's shot at making the playoffs?
Allow me to help with that. Here are my suggestions for which teams to root for during the Bucs' bye week, with the games presented in chronological order. This is your 2024 Bye Week Viewing Guide.
Washington Commanders (7-3) at Philadelphia Eagles (7-2), Thursday, 8:15 p.m. ET
Man, this is a tough one to start with. Since losing to the Buccaneers in Week Four, the Eagles have won five straight, three of them by double digits. Since losing to the Buccaneers in Week One, the Commanders have gone 7-2 and have emerged as this year's surprise breakout team behind rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels. Since the Bucs won both of those games, it doesn't really matter which one of these teams wins on Thursday night in terms of strength of victory and strength of schedule tiebreakers. Ideally, whichever one of these teams wins on Thursday and takes over first place in the NFC East will then run away with the division while the other one collapses and falls back to the pack in the Wild Card race. I don't think either of these teams is going to collapse (Philly already did that last year and surely learned from the experience), but if it was going to happen to one or the other it would seem more likely it would be the largely untested Commanders.
Verdict: Honestly, I just want an entertaining game, but I'd pull for Philadelphia in this one. The Bucs have had their number in the playoffs recently.
Green Bay Packers (6-3) at Chicago Bears (4-5), Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET
Here's my thinking about the NFC North: Bucs fans should be pulling for the Lions to win the division, a result that would also help Tampa Bay's tiebreakers thanks to their Week Two win in Detroit. Honestly, Dan Campbell's squad is pretty easy to root for anyway. So, in that scenario, all the other NFC North teams will be battling Tampa Bay for Wild Card spots if the Bucs are not able to capture the NFC South. As such, we should be rooting against the Packers, Bears and Lions every week. That's not possible here, since the Packers and Bears are playing each other, but based on recent results the Packers look like a much bigger threat. Let's root for the Bears to wake up and win this one before going back into hibernation.
Verdict: Go sleepy Bears!
Jacksonville Jaguars (2-8) at Detroit Lions (8-1), Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET
Most games pitting an AFC team against an NFC team are easy – just go with the AFC team since they won't be factoring into any potential NFC Wild Card race. Considering what I just wrote above, though, I think I'll be pulling for the Lions in this one. We want them to stay out in front of the NFC North, and since the Bucs are 4.5 games back of Detroit with seven games to play, it probably doesn't matter in terms of playoff seeding if the Bucs do win their own division. I'm not even sure I would be rooting for Jacksonville if I was a Jaguars fan. They have been a joyless team this year.
Verdict: Go JAR-ED GAW-OFF!
Los Angeles Rams (4-5) at New England Patriots (3-7)
Here you can definitely apply the AFC-NFC rule. The Buccaneers are currently 12th in the overall NFC standings, which means they have quite a few teams to climb over in the coming seven weeks. The Rams are one of the teams within close reach, so let's reel them in first. The Bucs already have a better conference record than the Rams, which could be important when it comes to potential tiebreakers. Remember, this isn't the dynasty Patriots anymore. It's okay to root for them every now and then.
Verdict: Go post-dynasty Pats!
Cleveland Browns (2-7) at New Orleans Saints (3-7)
This is like the Lions game above except that, as Bucs fans, we really love rooting against the Saints in any situation. After New Orleans got off to its crazy, high-scoring 2-0 start, it then lost seven in a row, a desultory stretch to which the Bucs contributed in Week Six. The Saints finally snapped that streak with a 20-17 win over Atlanta last weekend, which we very much appreciated…but that will be quite enough of that, New Orleans. We surely don't want Derek Carr and the Saints finding their footing again since the Bucs will play them in the regular season finale and that could end up being a make-or-break game for Tampa Bay.
Verdict: It's the Jameis Winston revenge game. Go Jaboo!
Las Vegas Raiders (2-7) at Miami Dolphins (3-6), Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET
Indianapolis Colts (4-6) at New York Jets (3-7), Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET
Baltimore Ravens (7-3) at Pittsburgh Steelers (7-2), Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET
We can lump all of these all-AFC 1:00 games together as they're pretty irrelevant to the Bucs' situation. There is one really entertaining matchup in there with the Ravens at the Steelers, and a win for Baltimore would pump up the Bucs' strength of schedule tiebreaker numbers. While we're on that subject, the Bucs currently have the best strength-of-schedule and strength-of-victory numbers in the NFC, and it's not particularly close. As for the other two games, you're rooting interest may depend on how much you care about Aaron Rodgers' success, or lack thereof, and how many Dolphins you have on your fantasy team.
Verdict: Go De'Von Achane (for my fantasy teams)!
Minnesota Vikings at Tennessee Titans, Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET
This one is pretty easy, too. The Vikings are currently in possession of the top NFC Wild Card spot and, as noted earlier, we could do worse than Detroit taking the NFC North and the other three contenders all struggling down the stretch. The Vikings are 7-2, but Sam Darnold has shown some cracks lately and Minnesota has games remaining against Green Bay, Detroit, Seattle, a surging Arizona team and the first-place (for now) Falcons. There's potential for a downturn here, and we'd like to see it start as soon as possible.
Verdict: Go Titans!
Atlanta Falcons (6-4) at Denver Broncos (5-5), Sunday, 4:05 p.m. ET
We want the Falcons to lose, always and forever, and if you grew up in the '80s like I did you're probably saying, "No duh," to your screen right now. Right, I don't really have to explain this. Since Atlanta has a two-game lead over the Buccaneers in the division and a hammer of a tiebreaker in their head-to-head sweep, Tampa Bay will have to make up three games over the final seven weeks. That's a tall order, and it will probably require the Falcons to lose four or five times, at least. Do you think our old "friend" Sean Payton could help us out a little bit here? It's the least he could do.
Verdict: Go Sean Payton!
Seattle Seahawks (4-5) at San Francisco 49ers (5-4), Sunday, 4:05 p.m. ET
The Seahawks and 49ers are going in opposite directions in the wild NFC West. Seattle has lost five of its last six, including one to the 49ers five weeks ago. San Francisco has won three of four – the only loss coming to the undefeated Chiefs – and, as you may have heard or seen for yourself last Sunday at Raymond James Stadium – just got Christian McCaffrey back. You know, the reigning NFL Offensive Player of the Year? Seems important. We would like both of these teams to lose as much as possible as they are currently eighth and 11th in the conference standings. That head-to-head loss to the Niners makes them a team we would want to avoid in any tiebreakers. Our best bet here is to get a win from the Seahawks and then root against both teams the rest of the way.
Verdict: Go Seahawks!
Kansas City Chiefs (9-0) at Buffalo Bills (8-2), Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET
Are you really going to be thinking about the Buccaneers when you're watching this game? A win by the Chiefs would help those SOS and SOV numbers for Tampa Bay, but probably not enough that you have to base your rooting interest in this game on it. Who you want to win probably rests on whether you have grown tired of the Chiefs' dynasty yet. Personally, I'm not there yet, but I could understand it. Or maybe you are a giant Taylor Swift fan, who knows? I personally think a Bills win here would be more interesting, but all I really want is an exciting game in the late-afternoon window.
Verdict: Go Mahomes AND Allen! Put on a show, please!
Cincinnati Bengals (4-6) at Los Angeles Chargers (6-3), Sunday, 8:20 p.m. ET
This is an all-AFC game and it could be very entertaining. The Bengals are on the fringes of the AFC playoff standings, but since there are a whopping six teams in the conference with three or fewer victories, they actually don't have to leapfrog many teams to earn a spot. They've been a bit snakebit this year, but they still should be a handful for a Chargers team that has won four of five and is itself rather entertaining behind a surging Justin Herbert. The only notable thing here for the Buccaneers is that they play the Chargers in Los Angeles in Week 15. I suppose we should root for the Bengals hoping that the Chargers will go on a swoon over the next month.
Verdict: Go Bengals!
Houston Texans (6-4) at Dallas Cowboys (3-6), Monday, 8:15 p.m. ET
Last year during the Bucs' bye week, for reasons that are not worth rehashing here, I advised us all to root for the Cowboys, which was difficult to write without bile rising in my throat. I'm sure I'm not along in being a life-long Cowboys hater, and it hasn't exactly been terrible to see their season fall apart. (I am, however, bummed by the Dak Prescott injury, no matter how I feel about the Cowboys.) Well, never fear, there is no need for us to bow to the star this time around. Dallas is behind the Buccaneers in the standings and we want them to stay there, whereas Houston's fortunes matter very little to us.
Verdict: Go Texans! I mean, actual Houston Texans, not people who live in Texas and root for the Cowboys.
