Why the 3-6 Tampa Bay Buccaneers are Still the Best Team in the NFC South

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 3-6. Rich still thinks they're the best team in the NFC South, and he has a defense to point to.

First, the problem. Rich said Collinsworth hit on it during Sunday night's broadcast: Baker Mayfield misses Mike Evans "in the worst way." Rich acknowledged Evans wasn't around for all 17 games before either. But there are moments when the Bucs simply need him.

Not that the offense is without weapons. "Bucky Irving is superb," Rich said. "He is really coming into his own now." The obvious limitation came from across the table: Irving can't get the ball on every play.

He's making the most of his chances, though. Irving has five rushing touchdowns over his last three games, the most by a Bucs player over a three-game span since, as Rich quizzed the room, "the famed Muscle Hamster himself," Doug Martin, in 2012. "He's killing it," Rich said.

Mayfield is a different story. Rich pointed out the strange stat that the moment Mayfield completed a pass on Sunday night, he had already surpassed his passing total from the Bucs' previous win. "He's getting beat up," Rich said. Tez Johnson dropped a couple of passes, and Rich wasn't trying to put it all on him, but it left him wondering where Tampa could go to find a receiver in the trade market in the next 24 hours. Then he caught himself. Is a 3-6 team really going to buy?

Maybe, because of the defense. The Bucs have 21 takeaways this season. That leads the NFL, and it's the most through nine games by any sub-.500 team since the 2018 Browns had 23.

Rich then asked the room if anyone knew who the quarterback of those Browns was.

"Baker Mayfield," came the answer.

"That's correct," Rich said. Mayfield became the starter in Week 4 that year.

That defense is the foundation of Rich's argument. "I think they're the best team in this division," he said. "It's a top five defense. It's top one in takeaways. I mean, they have got some players on that defense, man."

Better than the Saints? "Oh, yeah. Absolutely," came the reply, though one voice argued the Saints have more playmakers.

Then the quarterback question: would Rich rather have Mayfield or Tyler Shough? "Baker, absolutely. I would take Baker over Shough. Yes, I would," he said. Even long term? Rich pointed to Mayfield's experience "from the neck up." He allowed that "youth may serve," but for right now, he's going with Baker.

There is one clear warning label on the Bucs, and Rich named it to close. "If you stop the run game, you're going to stop the Bucs."

For a team three games under .500, that's a lot of belief. But in a division where nobody is running away with anything, a top-five defense that leads the league in takeaways and a back on a historic three-game run might be enough.