The Tampa Bay Buccaneers return from their bye week to face an AFC team for the third team after wins over Houston and the New York Jets in the season’s first month. The New England Patriots are up next as they bring a six-game winning streak to Raymond James Stadium on Sunday, November 9, with kickoff scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
The Buccaneers sailed into their bye with a breezy 23-3 win at New Orleans that ran their record to 6-2, which is tied with the Eagles, Seahawks and Rams for the top mark in the NFC. The Buccaneers’ offense had slowed down in the two weeks before the bye amid a mounting run of injuries but that unit is hoping for some reinforcements soon (more on that below) and has faith that Baker Mayfield, a noted MVP candidate over the first month-and-a-half of the season, will regain his prolific form while continuing to limit turnovers (two interceptions in 269 attempts). Tampa Bay’s a bit healthier, although its still not certain when edge rusher Haason Reddick will return to the lineup, and the secondary in particular has started to jell into a cohesive unit that regularly gets big plays from the likes on Antoine Winfield Jr., Tykee Smith and Jacob Parrish. The Bucs also rang up 15 sacks in their three games before the bye.
The Patriots are one of the hottest teams in the NFL, riding a six-game win streak that matches the Denver Broncos for the longest active one in the league. And while five of those six victories came against teams that currently have losing records (as did a Week Two victory in Miami), there is a road win at Buffalo in that mix as well. New England is led by rising star second-year quarterback Drake Maye, one of the six quarterbacks taken among the first 12 picks of the 2024 draft. The third-overall selection, Maye has emerged as the most successful of those half-dozen passers in 2025, with a 17-4 TD-INT ratio, a league-leading 116.9 passer rating, a 74.1% completion rate and 270 rushing yards to boot. The Patriots spent big on their defense in the offense, landing the likes of defensive tackle Milton Williams, edge rusher Harold Landry, linebacker Robert Spillane and cornerback Carlton Davis, and the overall results have been good. Landry leads the team with 5.5 sacks, Williams has added 3.5 sacks and has anchored the NFL’s top run defense and Spillane is tied for the team lead with two interceptions.
Here are four major storylines and four head-to-head player battles to keep an eye on in Week 10as the Bucs face the Patriots in a battle of first-place teams.
TOP STORYLINES
Rested and Recuperated? – The Buccaneers had been eyeing the bye on their schedule longingly for quite some time before it arrived in Week Nine. Getting to that week off with a 6-2 record was a boon, with the hopes that the return of some injured players – and the recuperation of some others who have been playing through ailments – would set the Bucs up for a strong second-half run. Who and when will be arriving as reinforcements will be a major storyline every week for Tampa Bay for the foreseeable future, but it is magnified before this game by that now-completed bye week. Among those players the Bucs have been doing without for various lengths of time who could make a big difference in the second half are running back Bucky Irving, wide receivers Chris Godwin and (at a potentially much later date) Mike Evans and Jalen McMillan, right tackle Luke Goedeke, right guard Luke Haggard and outside linebacker Haason Reddick. Goedeke is the only one of that group who has made a quantifiable step forward, as he has returned to the practice field this week after missing the last six games on injured reserve. He can be activated at any time in the next three weeks, which means he’s theoretically in play on Sunday against the Patriots. As for the rest, they may still need a bit more time before returning, but we will be watching all of them very closely for signs of progress in the weeks ahead.
Secondary Matters – Tampa Bay’s defensive backfield had a field day in its most recent outing, with corners and safeties combining for an interception, five passes defensed, a sack a forced fumble and a fumble recovery against the Saints. As noted above, Winfield, Smith and Parrish are all starting to turn in big plays on a nearly weekly basis. It’s fair to note, of course, that the Saints’ offense was led first by second-year quarterback Spencer Rattler, who was benched in the third quarter, and then by rookie Tyler Shough, seeing his first meaningful NFL action. Neither of those passers is having the type of season that the Patriots’ Maye has been constructing in his second year on the job. Maye has thrown for 2,285 yards along with the aforementioned 17 touchdowns and has proved formidable on the run. Parrish suffered an oblique injury late in the game at New Orleans so it’s possible his availability will be in question on Sunday, but the Bucs have good secondary depth with the likes of Benjamin Morrison and Christian Izien. The group as a whole will face one of its biggest challenges of the season when Maye and company come to town.
Will Either Run Defense Yield? – New England’s run defense ranks first in the NFL, surrendering just 75.4 yards per game, while the Bucs are seventh on that list with 92.6 yards per game allowed. The Patriots are third with an average of 3.59 yards allowed per carry while the Bucs are sixth at 3.88. Tampa Bay’s rushing attack has lost a little steam in the absence of Bucky Irving but the coaching staff still wants to keep the offense balanced; after bemoaning a Week Eight game in Detroit in which Mayfield threw 50 passes, the Buccaneers clearly insisted on running the ball more in New Orleans, even when it wasn’t super-productive. The Bucs gained 88 yards on 29 carries, averaging 3.0 yards per tote. Meanwhile, New England’s rushing attack has been middle of the pack in terms of production, ranking 17th in yards per game (112.3) and 25th in yards per carry (3.86). Both defenses have the same goal in mind: Stop the run first to make their opponent one-dimensional and then pin their ears back and come howling at the quarterback. In the case of the Bucs’ defense, that will be particularly important. The only real flaw in the Patriots’ passing attack this season has been a high pressure rate, as Maye has been sacked 34 times and the offense ranks next-to-last in sacks-allowed-per-pass-play, at 16.3%.
Special Considerations – The Buccaneers’ special teams have had an up-and-down season so far but proved to be part of a winning formula in New Orleans, with Chase McLaughlin nailing three field goals of 50-plus yards and Riley Dixon averaging more than 50 yards per punt. It will be a challenge to get the upper hand in the special teams arena again this Sunday, as the Patriots have had very good results in that department. Notably, Marcus Jones has scored on a punt return and is averaging 19.3 yards per runback and Antonio Gibson has also scored on a kickoff return. The Buccaneers’ punt coverage unit is currently ranked 29th in the NFL with an average return allowed of 14.7 yards. As dependable as McLaughlin has been, rookie kicker Andy Borregales is also off to a fine NFL start for the Patriots, as he has made 24 of his 26 field goal tries so far.Tampa Bay is 4-0 so far this season in games decided by three or fewer points, and while the main story within that figure is Mayfield’s late-game heroics, it also underscores how slim the margins have been in getting to a 6-2 record. If this Sunday’s game is another one that comes down to the wire, every little advantage or disadvantage could loom large, and the Bucs don’t want to cede the upper hand on special teams.