The Tampa Bay Buccaneers kicked off the NFL's Week 15 slate on Thursday night against the Atlanta Falcons and, well, it wasn't great. The Falcons' walk-off 29-28 win, in which the Buccaneers surrendered a two-touchdown fourth-quarter lead, knocked Tampa Bay out of first place in the NFC South, at least for now. It would have been a much more enjoyable weekend for Buccaneers players and coaches had they been basking the glow of a big win, but there's still plenty of reasons to tune in to the rest of the games on Sunday and Monday. Maybe a couple games will go right and our collective mood will improve.
There's one game on Sunday that matters most to the Buccaneers, obviously, and that's the Carolina Panthers visiting the New Orleans Saints in the late-afternoon window. You don't need help choosing who to root for in that one, but we'll take a closer look at the game below. From a pure entertainment standpoint, it's a pretty fun collection of Games. Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford squaring off in Los Angeles. Green Bay trying to stay hot against an even hotter Denver squad. The Cowboys trying to keep their slim playoff hopes alive. And the early-afternoon list of intense AFC matchups should be a blast, albeit not of much importance to the Buccaneers.
Who should we, as Buccaneers fans, be rooting for this weekend, beyond the Saints? Tampa Bay's clearest path to the playoffs is clearly as the NFC South winner, and with two games against Carolina still to come, that is very much still up for grabs. That said, the Buccaneers are not completely out of the Wild Card race, so we'll keep that in mind as we balance our rooting interests. This is your 2025 Week 15 Viewing Guide.
Cleveland Browns (3-10) at Chicago Bears (9-4), Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET
If Chicago were to lose to the Browns on Sunday, they would drop to 9-5. They would still be two games ahead of the Buccaneers in the Wild Card standings, with three to go. It's a small needle to thread to see how the Bucs could pick up two games against the Bears in the standings but not win the NFC South. It would involve splitting with Carolina and beating Miami, with the Panthers also beating the Saints or Seahawks. Chicago's final three games are tough – Green Bay, San Francisco and Detroit – and the Bucs also need to climb over Detroit to get the seventh spot. It's honestly a long shot, but the Bears are playing an AFC team so we might as well ride the Chicago L this weekend (if you've taken public transportation in the Windy City, you'll get that one).
Verdict: Go get Caleb Williams, Myles Garrett!
Arizona Cardinals (3-10) at Houston Texans (8-5), Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET
Arizona has already been eliminated from playoff contention so the Bucs don't really need them to lose another game. For me, though, this is a vibes situation. The Buccaneers' Week Two Monday night win in Houston keeps looking better as the Texans continue taking down one quality contender after another. That and a bag of chips won't earn the Bucs anything, but it still feels right.
Verdict: Go Texans!
Baltimore Ravens (6-7) at Cincinnati Bengals (4-9), Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET
New York Jets (3-10) at Jacksonville Jaguars (9-4), Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET
Los Angeles Chargers (9-4) at Kansas City Chiefs (6-7), Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET
Buffalo Bills (9-4) at New England Patriots (11-2), Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET
These are the aforementioned AFC-on-AFC matchups that should provide us with a lot of entertainment while we wait for the Panthers and Saints to start. Cincinnati's actually not out of the AFC hunt yet and no one is running away with the NFC North. It could be curtains, though, for whichever team loses this one. I'm on record as not being a Chiefs hater, as that organization gave me start in the NFL, but I'm sure many of you out there and I don't blame you. If you're in that camp, you probably want to see the Chargers put the dagger in, once and for all. And Bills-Patriots feels like it should be played on Sunday night. HUUUGE game. Personally, I'm way more annoyed at the Patriots than the Chiefs.
Verdict: Go entertainment!
Washington Commanders (3-10) at New York Giants (2-11), Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET
Both teams could be securing top two or three picks in the draft in the next month, but both teams already have a young quarterback in place. So this one isn't even very interesting from that standpoint. I can't think of a single reason to root for or against either of these teams.
Verdict: Go find the remote and switch back to those great AFC games listed above.
Las Vegas Raiders (2-11) at Philadelphia Eagles (8-5), Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET
The Eagles last four games are against the Raiders, the Bills and the Commanders, twice. There is nothing to be gained by any of those three teams losing, so we might as well root for a full-on Eagles collapse. The problem is, it's going to be hard for Dallas to catch them in the East, so their impact on the Bucs' potential Wild Card hopes may be nil. However, let's look at this from the standpoint of Tampa Bay rallying to take the South back from Carolina. If that happened, now it becomes a seeding issue. Since the Eagles beat the Bucs in Week Four, Tampa Bay will have to pick up at least two games on them in the overall standings to move up to the third spot. It won't be easy, but it's worth rooting for.
Verdict: Go Raiders!
Green Bay Packers (9-3-1) at Denver Broncos (11-2), Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET
It's hard to envision the Bucs, in our win-the-South scenario, leaping over both the Eagles and the Packers in the overall standings, and even if Green Bay did collapse over the next four weeks, Chicago and Detroit are right there waiting to take over and are also ahead of the Buccaneers. Nevertheless, they are playing an AFC team, so you know what that means. Denver, incredibly, has won 10 in a row. Can they keep it going?
Verdict: Go for 11, Broncos!
Detroit Lions (8-5) at Los Angeles Rams (10-3), Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET
The Buccaneers can no longer hold out any hope of getting the top conference seed. Even if both the Rams and Seahawks lose this week, both would still be three games ahead of Tampa, and since they face each other in Week 16, they can't both lose out. Tiebreakers are going to matter, either, so we don't have to root for the Rams to lose. So the easier path here it to root against the Lions, who are one game ahead of the Bucs in the overall standings. The less crowded the NFC race is, the better, and the Bucs could end up in a tiebreaker scenario with the Lions that would be rough due to their Week Seven loss in Detroit. We would like to see several more defeats for the Lions, even if the playoffs would probably be more interesting with them in it.
Verdict: Go Rams!
Carolina Panthers (7-6) at New Orleans Saints (3-10), Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET
So here's the thing: The Buccaneers could actually be back in first place in the NFC South before they have to play another game. If Carolina loses to the Saints, we would once again have a tie atop the division between two 7-7 teams. The whole situation would revert to where it was a week ago, with the relevant tiebreaker being record against common opponents, and the Bucs would be back to having a one-game edge in that regard, 5-5 to 4-6. Yeah, that will probably only matter for about a week since the Bucs and Panthers are going to settle this thing in head-to-head fashion anyway. But in the scenario in which they split those two contests in Week 16 and Week 18, this game in New Orleans could prove critical. This is the number-one outcome the Bucs need on Sunday…which you already knew. The good news, New Orleans has already beaten Carolina once this year, so we know it's possible. Maybe Tyler Shough will start running all over the field again. That would be nice.
Verdict: Go Saints!
Indianapolis Colts (8-5) at Seattle Seahawks (10-3), Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET
There sure is a lot of interconference action this weekend. I'd kind of like to see Seattle win the NFC West, but that doesn't really matter to the Buccaneers. In the very unlikely even that the Seahawks lose out, I suppose the Bucs' head-to-head win over them could apply, but that's probably not realistic enough to worry about. But I'm burying the lede here. This is (potentially) the Philip Rivers Game! How much fun would it be if he actually played well and helped the Colts win some games? Very fun, if you ask me. And it's AFC-vs.-NFC, so it's an easy pick.
Verdict: Go Grandpa Rivers!
Tennessee Titans (2-11) at San Francisco 49ers (9-4), Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET
Yet another NFC contender drawing an AFC opponent in Week 15. It's a full-on trend. The Bucs do have a head-to-head win over the 49ers, so any tiebreaker scenario with them would look good. They need to lose a few times between now and the end, though. Can the two-win Titans pull that off in the Bay area. Odd are against it but that's what we should be hoping for.
Verdict: Go Titans!
Minnesota Vikings (5-8) at Dallas Cowboys (6-6-1), Sunday, 8:20 p.m. ET
Both of these teams are still technically alive in the NFC hunt, but NFL.com has the Vikings' chances of making it at less than one percent, even if they win this game. The Cowboys will plummet to a 2% chance if they lose. This is good news. It means that reality has been restored and we can finally start rooting against Dallas, at least this week. Let's enjoy it.
Verdict: Go Vikings!
Miami Dolphins (6-7) at Pittsburgh Steelers (6-7), Monday, 8:15 p.m. ET
While an all-AFC game on Monday night means the Bucs' Week 15 fate will already be decided before this one. Still, there is a reason to root for Pittsburgh here, and it's not Aaron Rodgers. The Dolphins are also technically still in the hunt for a playoff spot, but if they lose this one their odds at securing one will drop below 1%, according to NFL.com. What we don't want is for their to be any extra motivation for the Phins when the Bucs head to Miami in Week 17. We would like to encounter an eliminated team that possibly has started turning its eye to the offseason and some potential big changes. Root against Miami from here on out.
Verdict: Go Steelers!
