Bucs Lock in Five Seed, Will Visit NFCE Champ
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 44-27 win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday locked them into a visit to the champions of the NFC East in the opening round of the playoffs. On Sunday, the NFL announced that the Buccaneers' first-round game will be played on the evening of Saturday, January 9, with kickoff scheduled for 8:15 p.m. ET.
Tampa Bay's victory gave them a final 11-5 regular-season record in 2020, matching the second-highest win total in franchise history. It also secured the top Wild Card spot in the NFC playoff field, which is the fifth seed overall. The first round of playoffs pits the fifth seed against the fourth seed, the sixth against the third and the seventh against the second. The top-seeded team is the only one that gets a first-round bye.
As the fifth seed, the Bucs will play the fourth-ranked team of the four division winners, which was going to be the East champ no matter which teams won in Week 17. The Buccaneers will face the Washington Football Team after they defeated the Philadelphia Eagles.
