The Tampa Bay Buccaneers may be leading the division, but ESPN’s Football Power Index still isn’t impressed.
The Bucs didn’t play football in Week 5 due to taking their bye week, and in that time, the team dropped in FPI’s playoff chance percentage. The team is now predicted to have a 57.4% chance to make the playoffs this year — which wouldn’t be too bad, if that chance wasn’t lower than the New Orleans Saints at 61.7%.
It seems interesting that the Saints not only have a higher playoff percentage, but also have more projected wins than the Bucs and are rated higher in the FPI stat (-0.5 to -1.5). The Saints handily defeated the New England Patriots 34-0 on Sunday, but the Bucs dismantled the Saints 26-9 right before their bye week — why FPI would still favor New Orleans in all of these scenarios is unknown, though it could have to do with Tampa Bay’s remaining schedule.
Nonetheless, the Bucs will look to continue proving themselves when they face the Detroit Lions at home in their throwback attire at 4:25 p.m.
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