What the Saints’ Thursday night loss means for the Bucs

The Saints’ loss on Thursday Night Football has big playoff implications for the Bucs’ next three-game stretch for the division.

Nine’s the magic number.

The New Orleans Saints lost their game to the Los Angeles Rams at So-Fi Stadium 30-22 on Thursday Night Football, dropping to 7-8 on the year. They remain second in the NFC South standings, but that loss has huge implications going forward for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ quest for an NFC South division title and its fourth playoff bid in a row.

With that loss, the Bucs can now win any two of their next three games — the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Saints and the Carolina Panthers — and clinch the NFC South. That means that if Tampa Bay knocks off the Jags on Christmas Eve Sunday in Week 16, they can beat either the Saints or the Panthers to win the division, and that combo works in any order with one loss. As such, the Bucs don’t only control their own destiny, but they get to drop a game while doing so.

Should the Bucs lose a majority of their matchups (or all of them), both Atlanta and New Orleans can take advantage and win the NFC South. But as displayed previously in the year, any three-way tie would go to Tampa Bay, who would have the upper hand on common opponents. As such, this next stretch is crucial for every NFC South team, but the Los Angeles Rams have given Tampa Bay the upper hand over the entire rest of the division heading into the postseason.

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