The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are on the outside looking in as they prepare for the penultimate game of their season.
At 8-6, the Bucs are the seventh seed in the NFC as a result of an unkind tiebreaker with the 8-6 Packers. Mathematically, the Bucs need some help to take their season deeper into January.
Jameis Winston isn't about your analytics, nerd.
"I love math. But I don't trust the percentages and the probabilities," Winston said, according to the Tampa Bay Times. "I trust our heart. This team's heart and what we need to do to find a way to get in here."
It's a nice sentiment, but you should definitely trust the percentages here. Heart, when factored into standard tiebreaking procedure, is about as useful as an old shoe floating down a river.
We get it, though. Jameis is passionate -- seriously, this is an enthusiastic young man -- and I believe him when he says heart will carry the day. It's a noble thought!
But really, it's math. And math is terrible and hollow and cares not for heart, teamwork or belief in self. And saying you love math (why you lyin', Jameis) will curry no favors. Math don't care.