Bucs look to build on division lead against the Falcons on Thursday Night Football | Bucs Bonus

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — For the past three seasons, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have done something they had never done before; win back-to-back division titles.

Since Tom Brady arrived in 2020, the Bucs have been the class of the NFC South, with the only year they failed to win the division being the year Brady and the Bucs won Super Bowl LV, knocking the division champion New Orleans Saints out of the post-season on their way to a Lombardi Trophy.

Even after Brady retired and former 1st overall pick Baker Mayfield arrived to fill his shoes, Tampa has remained on top in the division.

However, the NFC South hasn’t been the most difficult division to win in the NFL in recent years.

The Bucs were NFC juggernauts in 2021, claiming the division crown with a 13-4 record before losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion Rams in the Divisional Round of the playoffs, but the team only needed 8 and 9 wins, respectively, to claim the NFC South title the past two seasons.

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After the Bucs retained their top talent during the offseason, you’d be forgiven for thinking the reigning division champions should be the favorites going into 2024, but that wasn’t the case.

Cue the arrival of Kirk Cousins in Atlanta.

Cousins, who ranks fourth all-time in completion percentage with at least 1,500 pass attempts and is eighth on the NFL’s all-time regular season career passer rating list, was exactly what many believed the Falcons needed to take over as the kings in the NFC South.

With Cousins leading an offense that included bright young talent like Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and Kyle Pitts, many media members were ready to declare Atlanta the team to beat in a weak division.

For the Bucs, it may be just the fuel they need to motivate them. In fact, the team is no stranger to keeping receipts when slighted by the media, which was made evident when General Manager Jason Licht made a point to have a friendly confrontation with Sports Illustrated writer Conor Orr after the team outperformed his two-win prediction for the Bucs in 2023.

“I have it hanging up in my office,” Licht told Orr with a smile at the NFL Scouting Combine this offseason.

This season, Licht and the 3-1 Bucs are ready to prove the pundits wrong again. They get their first chance to do so against the 2-2 Falcons on Thursday night.

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