TAMPA, Fla. — Entering the NFL’s 2025 season, the Atlanta Falcons were seen by many as the top threat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ stranglehold on the NFC South.
Instead, they’re reduced to playing a spoiler role in the division title race.
The Falcons (4-9) will visit the Buccaneers (7-6) on Thursday night at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium, where there will be a lot at stake for the home team.
The Bucs were cruising along to a fifth straight division championship before running into a difficult stretch. They returned from their lone open date of the regular season with a 6-2 record and were aiming to earn a top seed over their final nine games on the schedule.
Instead, they’ve hardly played like a team that even belongs in the playoffs. Tampa Bay lost three straight games to winning teams, barely held on to beat the lowly Arizona Cardinals, then lost at home this past Sunday to the dismal New Orleans Saints, who sit at the bottom of the NFC South and — like the Falcons — have already been eliminated from contention for a postseason berth.