Beat-up Bucs in good shape for playoffs

Buccaneers cornerback Ronde Barber was relishing the uptick in Tampa Bay's playoff fortunes when he made a lighthearted comment that actually should be taken seriously by NFL owners driving toward expanding the regular season as early as next year.

"Don't let them do the 18-game season this year, because we won't make it [to the end]," the 35-year-old Barber said.

The Bucs beat Washington 17-16 on a botched point-after attempt by the host Redskins with nine seconds left. But they also lost two more starters for the season to injuries. That's seven Tampa Bay starters placed on or heading to injured reserve in the past three weeks alone.

Lost for the season Sunday were rookie defensive tackle and No. 3 overall draft pick Gerald McCoy (torn biceps) and outside linebacker Quincy Black (broken forearm). Defensive end Michael Bennett was moved inside to under tackle and played well in place of McCoy. And the Bucs have viable alternatives at outside linebacker in veteran Adam Hayward and rookie Dekoda Watson.

But, like most teams heading into the final three-week stretch, the Bucs are running out of good players while their injured reserve list grows by the week. They lost starting guard Davin Joseph (broken foot) and safety Cody Grimm (broken leg) two weeks ago, and center Jeff Faine (torn triceps) and cornerback Aqib Talib (hip) a week ago.

Throw in safety Tanard Jackson, who was suspended indefinitely before Week 3 for violating the league's substance abuse policy, and the Buccaneers are down five starters just on the defensive side of the ball.

Or as former Gophers defensive end Stylez G. White put it, "We got guys dropping like flies."

The Buccaneers were outplayed by the Redskins -- Washington's Ryan Torain had 100 of his 172 yards rushing in the game's first 10 minutes -- and probably should have fallen to 7-6. If that had happened, well, as Tampa Bay tight end Kellen Winslow put it, "It's over, it's over."

But thanks to pathetic Washington special teams that missed two short field goals, fumbled a kickoff and dropped a PAT snap, Tampa Bay is 8-5. And thanks to the Packers' rare loss to Detroit, the Bucs are in serious contention for their first playoff berth since 2007. They haven't won a postseason game since winning Super Bowl XXXVII in January 2003.

Tampa Bay is fighting Green Bay (8-5) and the loser of the NFC East division race between the Eagles and Giants (both 9-4) for the sixth and final NFC playoff seed. The Bucs play Detroit (3-10) and Seattle (6-7) at home and the Saints (10-3) in New Orleans. The Packers play at New England (11-2) and are home against the Giants and Bears (9-4). The Giants play the Eagles at home and finish on the road at Green Bay and Washington (5-8).

While injuries are piling up, the Bucs are getting stronger at quarterback as 22-year-old Josh Freeman continues to mature. In only his 22nd career start, last year's 17th overall draft pick picked up his seventh fourth-quarter comeback -- and fifth this season -- with a 41-yard touchdown pass to Winslow with 3:47 remaining Sunday. In the second half, Freeman went 11-for-16 for 174 yards and overcame his own fumble on the Redskins goal line.

"Everybody feels that we have a chance in every game," Freeman told reporters earlier this year when asked about his fourth-quarter comebacks. "Obviously you want to go out in the first 3 1/2 quarters and find a way to take a commanding lead, but at the same time, it's the NFL and not a lot of games end up in blowouts. So we know that the way our team is built, it's going to come down to the wire almost every week. Just having the confidence that we've done it before, and knowing we can do it again, helps us a lot as a young team."