Game Preview: Buffalo Bills vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

If it weren’t for a short week, I am not sure how fans across Western New York would have handled an extra three days to think about that loss to the Patriots last week. The 2023 Buffalo Bills season is officially on the ropes and, with a competitive AFC around them, they cannot afford any more losses to teams that they should beat, like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Losing to Zach Wilson and Mac Jones in the same year is puzzling enough for a defense that has traditionally only been beaten by very good quarterbacks.

The Last Five

Buccaneers 33 Bills 27 (OT) – 2021
Bills 30 Buccaneers 27 – 2017
Buccaneers 27 Bills 6 – 2013
Bills 33 Buccaneers 20 – 2009
Buccaneers 19 Bills 3 – 2005

Two teams that do not play each other often face off on the latest edition of Thursday Night Football. The Buccaneeers lead the all-time series 8-4. Something that is interesting to note, many point to the second half of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers game in 2021 where Josh Allen and the Bills offense finally found their “it” factor after a lull – and it carried them all the way to the “13 Seconds” game. The Bills have an opportunity to do the same on Thursday night against the Buccanneers once again. Will we look back to this game and remember it as the one that opened the floodgates once again? We’ll see.

What To Watch For: Buffalo Bills

You Already Know – Not to be confused with Dion Dawkins’ personal tagline “You Already Shnow”, but let’s be real here. Aside from a win, the only thing that everyone in Highmark Stadium will want to see on Thursday night is a competent offense. The Buffalo Bills did score 25 points on the Patriots last week. However, they had only 10 through 53 minutes of game time. You play 60 for a reason, but 10 points through 53 minutes is not good enough, period. That is on the heals of 14 total points the week before.

The Bills cannot ignore the fact that they have a problem on offense. No matter how many sarcastic and condescending soundbites Josh Allen wants to put out there, they have issues on the offensive side of the ball that nobody saw coming. How they go about solving it will determine what the rest of the year looks like.

Defense Starting to Crack – Sunday’s loss to the Patriots was the first time that you could make a case that the defense cost the team the game. While I still blame the offense for the loss, they gave the ball back to the defense needing just one more stop. The Patriots were the only team in the league to not score 20 points in a game before they put up 29 against the Bills. Mac Jones had been so bad that there were calls to bench him. The Bills made him look like Tom Brady while he surgically marched his team down the field. The injuries to White, Milano, and Jones are becoming too much for the team to bear. On top of that, Rousseau, Oliver, Benford, Miller, and Poyer have all missed time due to injuries as well.

What To Watch For: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Mike Evans – Over the years, Evans has become as productive and reliable as you can get in this league. Evans is in his 10th season and has nine straight 1,000-yard seasons. The guy is still making plays on a weekly basis and must be accounted for in a game plan. Christian Benford will have his hands full on Thursday. Evans has found the endzone in three straight games and, with the injuries the Bills have on defense, Evans should be a big part of the Bucs game plan.

Solution For Run Game Struggles – Tampa Bay is terrible at running the football. Their opponent this week could not come at a better time as they look to get that aspect of their offense going. Tampa ranks 29th in the league, averaging 77.8 rushing yards per game. In Sunday’s loss to the Falcons, if you take away a 31-yard run from Baker Mayfield, the Bucs averaged 2.2 yards per carry. Tampa had a season-high 130 rushing yards back in Week 2. But they have been kept under 75 yards in 4 of their 6 games this year.

If there was a “get right” game for their running game, it could be Thursday night against a hurting Bills defense. The Bucs could get RB Chase Edmonds back for this game, as he has been designated to return from IR, and a fresh set of eyes and legs could be just what the doctor ordered for Tampa Bay.

Prediction

Buffalo Bills 27 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 19. For some reason that I do not quite understand, I am picking the Bills to win this game. It may be wishful thinking, or just simply the law of averages. Josh Allen is so good that 4 straight poor performances seem impossible. The Bills simply cannot lose this game and I think they will muster up enough on offense to temporarily put out some fires over at One Bills Drive.

Featured Image Credit: The Sporting News