The Buccaneers headed into their Week 13 bye having suffered back-to-back losses for the first time this season, and coming out of their bye, they were faced with a huge home game against the Vikings.
Heading into Sunday—the start of regular season’s final quarter—with a 7-5 record and the NFC’s No. 6 seed, Tampa Bay was looking to gain some separation from a Minnesota team that came into the week with a 6-6 record and the NFC’s No. 7 seed.
There’s no doubt that Bruce Arians, Byron Leftwich, Todd Bowles and the rest of the Buccaneer coaching staff had some work to do during the week off.