The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are back in action in Week 12 after coming out of their bye, hoping to start a playoff stretch run with a strong performance at MetLife Stadium against the New York Giants. That game kicks off at 1:00 p.m. ET, so Buccaneers fans know what they will be watching in the early afternoon window on Sunday.

There are 12 other games to be contested from Thursday through Monday night, however, and some of them will have an impact on the Bucs hopes to earn a playoff spot at the end of the season. Some of them are obvious; for instance, there's really no reason to root for the Carolina Panthers against an AFC team. Some are a bit trickier; 49ers at Packers? Hmm.

The two most realistic paths to the postseason for the Buccaneers is to overtake the Falcons for the NFC South lead or to capture the third Wild Card spot. Tampa Bay is three games behind Green Bay for the second Wild Card spot, which is a lot of ground to make up in seven weeks. They are 2.5 games behind Washington for the third spot, and they already have a win in hand over the Commanders. Still not an easy path, but a little bit more reasonable.

So keep those twin goals in mind when you're choosing which teams to root for this weekend. And if you still find it a bit hard to choose, please allow me to help with that. Here are my suggestions for which teams besides the Buccaneers to root for from Thursday through Monday, with the games presented in chronological order. This is your 2024 Week 12 Viewing Guide.

Pittsburgh Steelers (8-2) at Cleveland Browns (2-8), Thursday, 8:15 p.m. ET

This one is of no consequence to the Buccaneers, so you can turn off your mind on Thursday night and just enjoy the show. I would say that some of us still have a lingering fondness for Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin, who began his NFL career in Tampa, and he needs just one more win to keep up his streak of never having a losing season in Pittsburgh. That would be 18 straight years. That's remarkable. And unless you remain a huge Jameis Winston fan, you probably don't much reason to pull for the Browns.

Verdict: Go Mike Tomlin!

Kansas City Chiefs (9-1) at Carolina Panthers (3-7), Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET

The Panthers have quietly won two in a row and are actually just one game behind the Buccaneers in the standings. But if Tampa Bay ends up worrying about the team currently in 14th place in the NFC, they probably aren't going to be in the playoff picture in Week 18. Still, the Bucs still have two games to go against Carolina over the next seven weeks, and we certainly don't want Dave Canales's team to start picking up steam. Unless you're just not a fan of NFL dynasties (I'm not there yet with the Chiefs), there's no reason to root against Patrick Mahomes and company.

Verdict: Go Chefs! (I still like that Snickers commercial.)

Minnesota Vikings (8-2) at Chicago Bears (4-6), Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET

As I noted, the Buccaneers need to be more concerned with the teams right around them in the standings than the one holding the first NFC Wild Card spot. I would root against the Vikings if they were playing, say, an AFC team or the Lions or Giants, but in this case the Bucs need the Bears to continue their slide and get one more Wild Card competitor out of the mix. We actually rooted for Chicago against the Packers last week, and they almost pulled that one off, but now it's time to turn our backs on the Bears (never a good idea in the wild).

Verdict: Skol!

Tennessee Titans (2-8) at Houston Texans (7-4)

New England Patriots (3-8) at Miami Dolphins (4-8)

Here's a couple of all-AFC matchups in the early afternoon, and they really don't mean anything to the Buccaneers, who haven't and won't play any of those four squads. So there's no strength of schedule tiebreaker impact with these two. I think the Drake Maye-Tua Tagovailoa matchup is pretty interesting, and DeMeco Ryans' Houston team is pretty easy to root for, but you can go whichever way you like with these two contests. You'll be watching the Bucs at this time of the day anyway.

Verdict: Go Bucs! (you say as you occasionally check the scores and your fantasy football players from these two games)

Detroit Lions (9-1) at Indianapolis Colts (5-6)

If the Lions were playing any of the teams around the Bucs in the overall standings, or especially if they were facing the Falcons, we would definitely be rooting for them. And it would be an enjoyable experience because, man, are they fun to watch. The Lions scored touchdowns on their first seven drives last week against Jacksonville. I don't care how much the Jaguars are struggling right now, that's a ridiculous feat. And you know what, even though they're playing an AFC team, I'm going to suggest rooting for Detroit anyway. Tampa Bay's Week Two win over the Lions was a big one, and it means that Detroit features into the Bucs' strength of victory tiebreaker. Every time the Lions win, the Bucs' SOV gets better. We're cool with Detroit running away with the NFC North and hopefully the Packers and Bears running into some trouble down the stretch.

Verdict: Go Lions! (But, uh, do stop at some point. I don't think we need seven straight touchdown drives again.)

Dallas Cowboys (3-7) at Washington Commanders (7-4), Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET

I can tell you to root for the Cowboys, but I can't make you do it. For many of us, that's just an unnatural thing to do. So just think of this as a thought exercise, a dispassionate logic problem you work out on paper but don't have to put into action after the test is over. Just avoid this game, so you don't have to actually pull for the Cowboys while it's happening, then check the score later. If Dallas does win, you can tell yourself, hey, at least it's good for the Buccaneers. Because I think it is. As I mentioned earlier, the Commanders currently occupy the NFC's seventh seed, so the Bucs are going to have to reel them in at some point. Actually, it would be best if they came back to the pack a bit but still stayed ahead of the Rams, Seahawks and 49ers – all teams between the Bucs and Commanders – because Tampa Bay has the head-to-head tiebreaker over Washington from the season opener. If the Bucs end up tied for a playoff spot with anybody, we want it to be Washington. But the Bucs have to catch them first.

Verdict: Go Cowboys? Sigh, I guess.

Denver Broncos (6-5) at Las Vegas Raiders (2-8), Sunday, 4:05 p.m. ET

The Bucs have already played (and lost to) Denver and will face the Raiders in Tampa in Week 14. So it doesn't matter which team wins in terms of the SOS and SOV tiebreakers. In this case, I would recommend rooting against the Raiders just so their season feels a bit more miserable. That may sound cold, but I'd rather face a Las Vegas team a couple weeks from now that isn't suddenly feeling frisky.

Verdict: Go Broncos!

San Francisco 49ers (5-5) at Green Bay Packers (7-3), Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET

This one is really, really tough. Last week, I suggested rooting against the Packers in the hopes that they would come to the pack (no pun intended) a little bit. And if Green Bay hadn't blocked that Cairo Santos field goal and had lost to the Bears to fall to 6-4, I would probably say we should be rooting against them again. But now the higher priority is probably getting another loss for the 49ers, who have a head-to-head edge over Tampa Bay. For now, we'll let Green Bay hang onto that second seed and try to pull even in the standings with the 49ers.

Verdict: Go Pack Go!

Arizona Cardinals (6-4) at Seattle Seahawks (5-5), Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET

This is another tough one. On one hand, since Arizona is in first place in the NFC West, it probably makes some sense to root for them to win and for all the other contending teams in that division – all of which are 5-5, incredibly – to lose. On the other hand, are we sure Arizona is going to be able to stay in front in that division? Their lead is very slim at this point and it could disappear very quickly if one of those other three teams (I'm looking at you, San Francisco) gets hot. And if that were to happen, the Cardinals would suddenly be a team the Bucs have to catch. It's close, but I think I'll stick with the first hand for now and root for the Cardinals. I may be changing my hand a week or two from now, though.

Verdict: Go Desert Rats! (That's what my uncle in St. Louis still calls the Cardinals 37 years after they moved from our hometown to Phoenix.)

Philadelphia Eagles (8-2) at Los Angeles Rams (5-5), Sunday, 8:20 p.m. ET

This one is easy, and we just all need to accept that we are Eagles fans for the remainder of the season. I mean, it's not as bad as rooting for the Cowboys, right? Philadelphia is a game up on Washington for the NFC East, and we've already established that we're rooting for the Commanders to fall back to the pack. It's fine if the Eagles just run away with the division, and remember, every Philly victory improves the Bucs' SOS and SOV numbers.

Verdict: Go Iggles!

Baltimore Ravens (7-4) at Los Angeles Chargers (7-3), Monday, 8:15 p.m. ET

We end the NFL's 12th Week the way we began it, just enjoying an all-NFC matchup for what it provides without any real Buccaneer rooting interest. The Chargers have won four in a row and five of their last six, so they're one of the hottest teams in the league. Meanwhile, but for their penchant of blowing close games at the end, the Ravens might be the best team in the league. If you need some kind of rooting interest, I'd suggest pulling for Lamar Jackson and company because the Buccaneers still have to face the Chargers in Los Angeles in Week 15. Maybe it would be nice if they would cool off from this hot streak a little bit before then. And they have the NFL's best uniforms, so there's that.

Verdict: Go Harbaugh, Herbert and Hortiz (as in Joe, the Chargers' GM)!