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Tampa Bay Buccaneers

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2021 Bucs NFL Power Rankings Week 9

The Buccaneers take a dive in the rankings after a divisional loss to the Saints before their bye week.

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This is likely not how the Buccaneers wanted to go into their week off, but at 6-2, which matches their best start in franchise history through eight games, they have taken a bit of a hit in the rankings after losing to their division rivals in New Orleans last weekend.

Now, where the Bucs previously were among the top three teams in the league, they rank as high as four but as low as seven. The latter is a bit of an overreaction by CBS Sports' Pete Prisco, though. His rationale was that the defense 'isn't good enough,' which is honestly a pretty lazy take. Tampa Bay's shortcomings against the Saints came down to penalties and turnovers – not the defense, which allowed backup quarterback Trevor Siemian just 159 passing yards after completing just 16 of his 29 passing attempts. The Saints also had just a 35.7% third-down conversion rate and were three of seven in the red zone. Moreover, the Bucs' defense ranks seventh in defensive DVOA, according to Football Outsiders thanks to ranking fourth against the run and 11th against the pass.

So, provided the Bucs can clean up their penalty woes, there's no way they belong outside the top five with a more than serviceable defense and the offense putting up the numbers it is.

The Bucs will have to wait to right the ship until after their bye week, when they take on the Washington Football Team in Week 10.

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See the full list of NFL power rankings below.

  • Rank: 5
  • Last Week: 2
  • NFL Top 5: Packers, Cowboys, Cardinals, Bills, Bucs
  • NFC South: Saints (8), Panthers (21), Falcons (22)
  • Week 9 Opponent Ranking: Bye
  • Rank: 7
  • Last Week: 4
  • NFL Top 5: Packers, Rams, Bills, Cardinals, Titans
  • NFC South: Saints (6), Panthers (19), Falcons (23)
  • Week 9 Opponent Ranking: Bye
  • Rank: 4
  • Last Week: 3
  • NFL Top 5: Rams, Packers, Cardinals, Bucs, Cowboys
  • NFC South: Saints (12), Panthers (25), Falcons (27)
  • Week 9 Opponent Ranking: Bye
  • Rank: 6
  • Last Week: 2
  • NFL Top 5: Rams, Packers, Cowboys, Bills, Cardinals
  • NFC South: Saints (9), Panthers (20), Falcons (24)
  • Week 9 Opponent Ranking: Bye
  • Rank: 4
  • Last Week: 2
  • NFL Top 5: Packers, Cardinals, Rams, Bucs, Cowboys
  • NFC South: Saints (13), Falcons (19), Panthers (24)
  • Week 8 Opponent Ranking: Saints (13)

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