It would have been difficult to imagine at the midpoint of the season, but the Buccaneers will enter Week 18 fighting for their playoff lives. Once 6-2, the 7-9 Buccaneers will face the 8-8 Panthers on Saturday with the NFC South and a postseason berth at stake.

Despite the Buccaneers’ second-half disintegration, a report last Sunday indicated head coach Todd Bowles is not in jeopardy of losing his job. The Buccaneers then dropped their fourth straight game, a 20-17 decision against the Dolphins, potentially turning up the heat on Bowles.

It’s unknown whether ownership will reverse course on Bowles...

The Carolina Panthers will have an opportunity to claim the NFC South with a win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 18. When they take the field, the Panthers will have one of their best offensive weapons at their disposal.

Running back Rico Dowdle practiced in full on Thursday and has no injury designation entering Week 18, via David Newton of ESPN. He had been battling a toe injury, but now appears all system goes for the NFC South championship.

Dowdle has been more than a pleasant surprise for Carolina since signing a one-year contract. Over his first 16...

ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter recently floated the idea that Mike Tomlin or John Harbaugh could take a TV job if they lose Sunday night’s win-or-go-home Week 18 game. Both coaches have received significant heat this season and in recent years, as expectations have not been reached.

“They will have a big say,” Schefter said of both Tomlin and Harbaugh’s futures. “One of them may go in there and say, ‘It’s been a great run. Might be time to go try something else.’ Whether that’s TV or another job somewhere else, like, those things are possible. They’re within the realm...

Calijah Kancey’s long-awaited return from a torn pectoral is officially “in play” as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers head into a must-win Week 18 clash with the Carolina Panthers on Saturday.

Kancey’s chances of return are strong, per Greg Auman of FOX Sports and ESPN’s Jenna Laine, noting that the Buccaneers want to see how he handles the final practices of the week before making a roster move. Tampa Bay must activate him from injured reserve to the 53-man roster to suit up, a decision likely tied to whether he can practice without setbacks and maintain his usual explosiveness.

[Kancey tore...

Welcome back to your weekly Pittsburgh Steelers mailbag. The last one of the regular season but hopefully not of the year. As always, we’re here for the next hour to answer whatever is on your mind. To your questions!

PITTSBURGH — Ahead of Sunday night’s do-or-die Week 18 game against the Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Calvin Austin III looks ready to make his return from a hamstring injury.

Austin was listed as a limited participant in practice on Wednesday, but looks ready to go after taking part in individual drills at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex on Thursday afternoon.

This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Steelers Sights & Sounds: Calvin Austin III Looks Ready to Return

Netflix delivered a historic moment for sports streaming on Christmas Day, shattering its own NFL viewership record with the Minnesota Vikings vs. Detroit Lions matchup. According to Nielsen, the livestream averaged 27.5 million viewers in the United States, making it the most-streamed NFL game in U.S. history, per Variety.

The audience peaked even higher during key moments. The game’s most-watched stretch surpassed 30 million viewers, while the halftime presentation, “Snoop’s Holiday Halftime Party,” averaged 29 million. Those numbers reflect average minute audiences, highlighting how consistently viewers stayed locked in throughout the broadcast.

Netflix also streamed the Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington...

Baltimore Ravens CB Marlon Humphrey doesn’t actually think the fix is in and the NFL preordained Sunday’s marquee matchup against the Pittsburgh Steelers. But Humphrey can see the appearance of it all, setting up a winner-take-all showdown rarely seen in the league. “I joke around that the NFL script writers, they did good with this […]

PITTSBURGH — Don’t expect Aaron Rodgers not to show up against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday night. The Pittsburgh Steelers’ veteran quarterback isn’t one to let bad games stack up.

“You see my career, I don’t have a lot of stinkers back-to-back over the years,” Rodgers said Wednesday after practice at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. “It’s the same mindset every week, same approach — just expect greatness. When it doesn’t happen, you don’t shift up the plan. You just keep on going and trust the process.”

During a 13-6 loss to the moribund Cleveland Browns last Sunday, Rodgers went...

Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard will wrap up his first year as an NFL coordinator on Sunday against the Chicago Bears, and it’s fair to say the season hasn’t gone as he had hoped. The Lions went from having the seventh-best scoring defense under Aaron Glenn last year (20.1 points per game) to the 23rd-ranked defense (24.8). Most concerning, however, was the fact that Detroit really struggled down the stretch when they needed the defense the most. They allowed an average of 30.2 points per game in the final six games of the season—a stretch in which they finished...

The New England Patriots know they’ll be hosting a playoff game at Gillette Stadium.

Who? When? Why?

It’ll remain to be seen, as their final regular season matchup against the Miami Dolphins in Week 18 is just one of several factors that will ultimately determine the answer to those questions — so let’s take a look at the others and determine which are the best- and worst-case playoff scenarios for the folks at One Patriot Place.

1. First-Round BYE

WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN: Patriots win (vs. MIA), Broncos lose (vs. LAC)

I don’t think it’s necessary to spell this...

New Orleans Saints wide receiver Chris Olave is set to miss the final game of the regular season.

The Saints will play the Atlanta Falcons at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Sunday. They will aim to ensure that both teams finish the campaign with identical 7-10 records. However, they will have to do so without Olave.

According to a source cited by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the wideout developed a blood clot in one of his lungs and will be unavailable.

On a brighter note, he is expected to recover without issue and is expected to participate in the Saints’ offseason program...