The NFL schedule makers like to backlog the calendar with divisional matchups. But even then, there's no guarantee that those games will have any meaning.
This year, they got the NFC South Division schedule just right for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Carolina Panthers.
Both are 7-7 through Week 15, underwhelming to be sure, but also good enough to be tied atop the division standings.
And hey, would you look at that: Week 16 and Week 18 both feature the Bucs against the Panthers.
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While each has a different opponent in Week 17, in most scenarios, it'll be the two games between Carolina and Tampa Bay that decide the NFC South title, and with it the No. 4 seed in the NFC playoff bracket.
The irony here is that if either of these teams could've beaten the New Orleans Saints lately, it wouldn't look like this.
The Bucs lost to the Saints in Week 14. The Panthers followed suit with a loss to the Saints in Week 15.
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Tampa Bay had a bad loss Thursday night to the Falcons in Week 15, too, blowing a 28-14 lead in the fourth quarter to lose 29-28.
And on Sunday, the Panthers had the Saints down almost the whole day before New Orleans rallied for a game-tying touchdown and a game-winning field goal.
It's not a pretty division race. But the race is certainly on, and it's going to come down to the wire.
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