In Week 13, the playoff-hungry Tampa Bay Buccaneers needed a win in San Diego to take advantage of a near-perfect (for the Buccaneers) run of results elsewhere in the NFL. In Week 14, they needed a victory at home against New Orleans simply to hold their ground.
With three weeks to play, the Buccaneers are currently tied for the lead in the NFC South and in possession of the sixth and final NFC playoff seed. That's exactly where Tampa Bay was a week ago, but only a fifth straight victory guaranteed they would stay there. Unfortunately, the Buccaneers got no help from the rest of the league this time, as the following results went counter to their best interest:
- Washington edged Philadelphia to stay just behind the Bucs in the Wild Card race
- Minnesota and Green Bay beat Jacksonville and Seattle, respectively, to stay a game back of that sixth spot
- Atlanta trounced Los Angeles to remain technically in first in the South
- And finally, on Sunday night, the Giants snapped the Cowboys' 10-game winning streak to hold onto the five-seed
In addition to improving their own record to 9-4 and thus stay ahead of the Buccaneers, the Giants also prevented Dallas from clinching either the NFC East title or a first-round playoff bye.