In 1996, the year before the Tampa Bay Buccaneers shook of 15 years of losing and began a long run of playoff contention, the team finished with a 6-10 record. The next year, they opened with five straight victories, including road wins in Detroit and Minnesota against a pair of then-NFC Central division mates. Later that year, the Buccaneers beat Chicago, another NFC Central team, in the season finale to clinch a playoff berth, then topped the Lions again in a Wild Card game.
READ: BUCS-PANTHERS SERIES HISTORY
There was a fifth team in that division, though, and the Bucs did not beat them in 1997.