In a divisional back-and-forth that went all the way to the final week, it was the Buccaneers who came out on top.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers clinched the NFC South and the accompanying playoff berth with their comeback 27-19 win over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.
With the season winding down, there was doubt as to whether Tampa Bay (10-7) was going to be the one on top of the division once the dust settled, going back and forth with the Falcons over the final weeks of the season. But while Atlanta has faltered down the stretch, finishing the year 2-6, Tampa Bay has come on strong, winning six of its final seven since the bye week to just edge out the Falcons (8-9) for the division title.
"It feels great," head coach Todd Bowles said of capturing the division, per the . "We went through a lot of ups and downs this year, a lot of injuries, guys fought hard. We went through a hurricane by the way, and with a lot of guys missing on both sides of the ball it's even more gratifying throughout the year for us to come out on top this way."
Now, Tampa Bay earns its fifth consecutive playoff appearance and fourth consecutive NFC South crown. In that span of success, the Buccaneers have won one Super Bowl with Tom Brady in the 2020 season, and since then advanced to the Divisional Round twice, but not to a conference championship. No team has ever won four straight division titles without making a conference championship in that span, and the Buccaneers will hope to follow in those past teams' footsteps with a deep postseason run.
With Bowles and quarterback Baker Mayfield leading the way, Tampa Bay will take its late-season momentum into the postseason in search of a return to the big game.
