Bucs WR Mike Evans – Photo by: USA Today So, how did the Bucs get here? They were a four-win team that looked dead in the water, but they’re now an 8-win team primed to win the division for just the ninth time in franchise history. They started by beating the Panthers 21-18 on Dec. 3, then they set out on a two-game road trip. The turning point may have been the Dec. 10 game in Atlanta, which saw Baker Mayfield lead a last-minute game-winning drive. That’s when Tampa Bay took control of the division, and it hasn’t let go of it since. Last week, on Dec. 17, it was a statement 34-20 win for the Bucs over the Packers at Lambeau Field. Mayfield was perfect, becoming the first visiting quarterback to finish with a perfect 158.3 passer rating at Lambeau on his way to NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors. And then, the Bucs’ latest win was perhaps their most complete win of the year. On Christmas Eve, they beat the visiting Jaguars and made it look easy. Tampa Bay went up 30-0 in the third quarter before cruising to a 30-12 win. That has Todd Bowles and Co. in position to win the NFC South with one win over its final two games. With the way December is going, the Bucs look ready to make sure they’ve wrapped it all up by the time the clock hits midnight and Dec. 31 turns into Jan. 1. Bucs Have Been Playing With A Playoff Mentality Throughout December 
Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR This four-game winning streak has come at the perfect time for Tampa Bay. With the way the NFC South has been, it was clear from the start of the season that the race would come down to the very end. That’s why, even after the Bucs lost six of seven and sunk to 4-7, all hope wasn’t loss. They may have put their own backs up against the wall in a sense (remember Houston?), but ever since ending November with a loss at Indianapolis, things have been different. There’s been something of a playoff mentality for the Bucs, who have taken everything week by week and done a masterful job of it. “Coach Bowles said it last night. We have an eight-day window, including today, that we can be in first place in this division,” Mayfield said after the win over Carolina on Dec. 3. “So, take care of business next week and see what happens the rest of the way. But it’s a one-game-at-a-time mentality and our guys came ready to play and found a way to win. It doesn’t have to be pretty, a lot of things to correct, but we found a way to win.” That eight-day window did end with the Bucs in first place, and all they’ve done over the two weeks since is hold onto that top spot in the division. By doing so, they still control their own destiny and are on the cusp of accomplishing their first goal, which is to make the playoffs and win their division. 
Bucs FS Antoine Winfield Jr. – Photo by: USA Today “It’s all about clicking at the right time,” safety Antoine Winfield Jr. said after Sunday’s win over Jacksonville. “I feel like those few weeks right there when we had some losses, you really find out a lot about the team. Right now, our goal is just to continue and get better every week. Like I said, it’s playoff mode. It’s a playoff game every week for us. It’s win or go home, and that’s our mentality.” There’s an interesting parallel between this year’s Bucs and the 2020 team. That’s not to say this is a Super Bowl-caliber team or that they’re destined to hoist a third Lombardi Trophy in a couple of months, but that 2020 team didn’t play its best football until down the stretch. At 6-4, things weren’t looking so good for Tom Brady and Tampa Bay. But “playoff mode” hit and the team won its last four regular season games before winning four straight games in the playoffs to win it all. That, remember, was the last time the Bucs won each of their games in a single month. If the Bucs beat the Saints in Week 17 and close out December with a 5-0 record, they’ll at least get themselves into the dance. What happens from there is unknown, but with the heater that they’re on, they’re catching fire at the right time. “We’re getting hot at the right time, but we can’t take that for granted,” Mayfield said Sunday. “Got to keep working on that, got to realize that the one-game-at-a-time mentality has really been the turning point for us. That singular focus has been the edge and the intensity that we’ve needed, so we’ve got to continue to have that.” The post Surging Bucs Are Making This A December To Remember appeared first on Pewter Report. Source: https://www.pewterreport.com/bucs-december-to-remember/
