Bucs are still in first place, but they don't look like a playoff team

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The most unbelievable aspect of Sunday's 35-7 loss to the 49ers isn't necessarily how thoroughly the Buccaneers were dominated, as much as the fact that they remain in first place in the NFC South, even with a 6-7 record.

Being in a bad division means the Bucs could lose their next two games to the Bengals and Cardinals and still know that even at 6-9, in a worst-case scenario, they would control their playoff destiny, able to win the division by finishing with wins against the Panthers and Falcons.

"It's all out in front of us. We control how the season goes for us," tight end Cam Brate said after the loss. "We don't have to count on someone else losing games for us to make it to the playoffs, if we just go out and take care of business. We're in first place right now, but it's hard to like grasp that really, because the way we're playing, we don't feel like we're playing like a first-place team. We've got to figure it out: offense, defense, special teams. We kind of got killed in all these phases today."

In 378 career games over 23 seasons, Tom Brady has only lost two games by more points than he did Sunday in Santa Clara, not far from his hometown of San Mateo, against a 49ers team he grew up cheering for. It was just his second game here, but Sunday bore little resemblance to his 2016 win with the Patriots, throwing for four touchdowns.

"In short, he got our asses kicked," coach Todd Bowles said. "We played bad in all phases. We coached bad. We got outcoached. Credit to Kyle (Shanahan) and his guys, they did a great job. We got our ass kicked on offense, we got our ass kicked on defense."

Things might get worse before they get better. Just as the 49ers have now won six in a row, the Bucs return home to face a Bengals team that made the Super Bowl last year and has won five straight and seven of their last eight. 

The Bucs played Sunday without their two starting safeties, with Antoine Winfield (ankle) and Mike Edwards (hamstring) missing a second straight game. They could now be without three other defensive starters who left the 49ers game with injuries — defensive tackle Vita Vea left early with a strained calf and had his right foot in a boot after the game, cornerback Jamel Dean left with a toe injury and had his left foot in a boot after the game, and outside linebacker Joe Tryon-Shoyinka left with a hip injury.

The Bucs have four games remaining and will be an underdog at home this week against the Bengals. Reasonably, two wins will get them into the playoffs, but the goal isn't just to make the postseason, it's to do so while playing the kind of football you expect from a playoff team. Toward that end, Bowles said there should be an urgency for his team to decide what kind of squad they really are.

"We have to decide what kind of team we want to be," he said. "We can't be one set of Bucs and another set of Bucs. It has to mean something. We have a one-game lead with four games to go. Either we want it or we don't. As a coach, you don't go on the field, but we definitely got out-coached, so we are not excused from this at all. But we got outplayed as well. So as a team, as a group, we have to buckle down and we have to decide what our fate is in the next few weeks."

The Bucs' problem is with each loss, they add to the motivation of the Panthers and Falcons, reminding them they still have something to play for despite a record that shouldn't lead to any postseason contention. Atlanta has lost four of five games and is switching to rookie Desmond Ridder at quarterback, facing the Saints and Ravens on the road for his first two starts. Carolina has won three of four, but would need to beat a hot Lions team that has won five of six games in two weeks to keep the top of the division close.

Brady threw two interceptions on Sunday, after totaling three in the first 12 games of the season. In theory, the Bucs should get right tackle Tristan Wirfs back from injury in the next two weeks, which will help the offensive line give Brady more time in the pocket. The 45-year-old is facing the possibility of finishing with a losing record for the first time in 21 seasons as a starter, and potentially missing the playoffs for the first time since 2002.

"Everyone's got to play better," Brady said. "We just have not played consistently well very often. We haven't played it for four quarters. We've played it a little bit, at times. Not today at all. Some games, we've played well for five minutes and don't play well for 55 minutes. Some games, we play pretty well for a half. We have not played consistently well for a game."

The window to turn things around, to start looking like a first-place team instead of simply being a first-place team, is closing fast. Another loss, and the rest of a bad division starts to find confidence when they see the same standings. The smallest measure of success for this Bucs team would be a division title, regardless of record, knowing there's a home playoff game that comes with it and whatever that leads to.

"It's just disappointing," defensive lineman Rakeem Nunez-Roches said. "They executed, and we just fell apart. It's not our standard, it's not typical ... It's just frustrating. You tip your hat to them, but for us, it's very disappointing."

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Greg Auman is FOX Sports’ NFC South reporter, covering the Buccaneers, Falcons, Panthers and Saints. He is in his 10th season covering the Bucs and the NFL full-time, having spent time at the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.