Tampa Bay Buccaneers

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2023 Game Preview: Buccaneers-Bills, Week 8

The Bucs will try to seize their first win ever in Buffalo and snap a two-game skid, but they'll have to slow down dual threat quarterback Josh Allen and breakout star defensive tackle Ed Oliver to achieve those goals

Oct 25, 2023 at 10:00 AM

Scott Smith

Senior Writer/Editor

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Buffalo Bills are each seeking a 'get-right' game in Week Eight, but they didn't have much time to actually get everything right. The Buccaneers and Bills will meet on Thursday night at Highmark Stadium in upstate New York, giving them just four days to shake off Week Seven losses and prepare for each other's challenges. For the Buccaneers, those four days also meant half of one day spent traveling.

Both Tampa Bay and Buffalo have dropped two of their last three games after good starts to the 2023 season. In the Bucs' case, their most recent loss dropped them out of first place in the NFC South, a half-game behind the Atlanta Falcons. Buffalo, which suffered one-score losses to Jacksonville and New England sandwiched around a one-score win over the Giants that came down to the last play, is a game behind Miami in the AFC East. In other words, while the first order of business for both the Bucs and Bills is to get their seasons back on track, they also could be back atop their respective divisions by the end of the week.

The Buccaneers have already logged road wins in Minnesota and New Orleans this season but may be facing their toughest test away from home so far in Buffalo. The Bills rank third in scoring with 28.3 points per game and also fifth in scoring defense, at 16.9 points allowed per outing. So far, Tampa Bay's defense has kept pace with the Bills in most categories – the Bucs are one spot behind the Bills with 17.3 points allowed per game – but its offense has throttled down in a pair of losses after what seemed to be a big step forward in a 26-9 win over the Saints.

Buffalo's offense is led by force-of-nature quarterback Josh Allen, who has thrown for 263 yards per game and tossed 15 touchdown passes while also running for 148 yards and four more scores. Allen favors Pro Bowl wideout Stefon Diggs, whose 55 catches are 30 more than any other player on the team, but rookie tight end Dalton Kincaid is also beginning to emerge as a reliable weapon. Second-year back James Cook may be having a breakout season; his 86.4 yards per scrimmage per game in 2023 is more than double what he produced as a rookie.

The Bucs will be squeezing a lot of film study into a short period to prepare for those trials on Thursday night, but Head Coach Todd Bowles knows the more important piece of preparation his team needs to take care of is improving its own body of work.

"[They are] still high-powered," said Bowles of the Bills, who rank second in the league in point differential after leading the league in that category each of the last two seasons. "Obviously, they have a lot of talent. I don't know what's going on exactly. We've got to worry about ourselves more than we worry about them. If take care of ourselves, we will go up and play a good ballgame. They're kind of secondary at this point, it's more about correcting the things we need to correct to be a better football team."

Buffalo's defense is without some key players due to injuries, as cornerback Tre'Davious White, linebacker Matt Milano and defensive tackle DaQuan Jones are all on injured reserve. Star edge rusher Von Miller recently returned from the knee injury he suffered last November but so far has been eased into action, seeing only about a quarter of the team's defensive stats. However, fifth-year defensive tackle Ed Oliver is having easily his best NFL season yet and has helped pick up the slack; according to NFL Next Gen Stats, Oliver ranks first among all NFL defensive tackles in run stuff rate and fourth in quarterback pressure percentage. Safeties Micah Hyde and Jordan Poyer form an experienced playmaking duo at the back end of the defense and Taron Johnson ranks as one of the best slot corners in the league.

Thursday's game marks the beginning of a stretch of eight weeks that includes six road trips for the Buccaneers. They are perfect so far away from home but will be seriously tested in Week Eight before a prime-time audience. A win in Buffalo would provide momentum heading into a challenging two-month stretch.

GAME AND BROADCAST DETAILS

Tampa Bay Buccaneers (3-3) at Buffalo Bills (4-3)

Thursday, October 26, 8:15 p.m. ET

Highmark Stadium (capacity: 71,621)

Orchard Park, New York

Television: Prime Video and FOX 13 (Tampa)

TV Broadcast Team: Al Michaels (play-by-play), Kirk Herbstreit (analyst), Kaylee Hartung (reporter)

Radio: 98Rock (WXTB, 97.9 FM), Flagship Station

Radio Broadcast Team: Gene Deckerhoff (play-by-play), Dave Moore (analyst), T.J. Rives (sideline)

Spanish Radio: 96.1 Caliente

Spanish Radio Broadcast Team: Carlos Bohorquez (play-by-play), Martin Gramática (analyst)

ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES

The Buccaneers have never won a game in Buffalo and yet they have a four-game lead in the all-time series, and their .667 winning percentage against the Bills is their best against any NFL opponent.

That's because, through quirks in the NFL's previous scheduling method, the Buccaneers didn't play a single game in upstate New York in their first 33 seasons. They've since made trips to Buffalo in 2009 and 2017 thanks to the new scheduling format with rotating divisional matchups but they lost them both. Still, with wins in Tampa in 2013 and 2021, the Bucs now lead the series, 8-4.

The most recent meeting at Raymond James Stadium was a thriller, decided in overtime after the Bills rallied from a 24-3 halftime deficit to knot the game at 27-27 on a 25-yard Tyler Bass field goal with 22 seconds left in regulation. Tom Brady and Josh Allen combined to throw 100 passes, each hitting on two touchdown passes. Allen and Brady also each scored a rushing touchdown, though the Bills passer had considerably more yards (109 to 16 for Brady). In overtime, the Bucs' defense got a quick three-and-out and the offense got the ball close to midfield. Facing a third-and-three at Tampa Bay's 42, Brady hit wide receiver Breshad Perriman on a crossing route and he outran a trailing defender all the way to the end zone.

Prior to that, Buffalo had won the most recent game in the series, a 30-27 squeaker in Buffalo that saw 27 points scored and two lead changes in the fourth quarter. The Bucs rallied to take a 27-20 lead on touchdown catches from O.J. Howard (his second of the game) and Mike Evans but Bills running back LeSean McCoy knotted it back up on a seven-yard scoring run with 2:28 left in regulation. On the very next play from scrimmage, Bucs receiver Adam Humphries lost a rare fumble and the Bills turned it into a Steven Hauschka 30-yard game-winner with 14 seconds left.

Tampa Bay's other relatively recent win in the series was in 2013 at Raymond James Stadium, with Bobby Rainey kicking of a 27-6 blowout with an 80-yard touchdown run on the second play of the game. Lavonte David had two of the Bucs' four interceptions off quarterback E.J. Manuel.

The Buccaneers' random avoidance of the Buffalo area for more than three decades isn't the only oddity in their all-time series with the Bills. Despite playing each other just 10 times, the Bucs and Bills managed to produce a once-in-NFL-history outcome – Tampa Bay's 10-5 win in 1988 is still the only NFL game ever to finish in that score.

It actually didn't take long for the Buccaneers and Bills to become acquainted. Tampa Bay entered the league in 1976 as the NFL's 27th franchise; the Bills were born in 1960 as part of the new AFL and became an NFL team during the 1970 merger. Just three games into the Buccaneers' inaugural season, the Bills visited Tampa Stadium to take on one of the league's two expansion teams. At that point, Tampa Bay was still looking for its first point, having been shut out 20-0 by Houston and 23-0 by San Diego.

They got those long-awaited points on a pair of Dave Green field goals in the first quarter, and even held a 9-7 lead over the Bills in the fourth quarter before QB Joe Ferguson (who would end up playing for the Buccaneers a dozen years later) threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to TE Reuben Gant for a 14-9 Buffalo win. As it turned out, that was about as close as the expansion Bucs would come to victory for almost two full seasons.

NOTABLE CONNECTIONS

Bills Offensive Line Coach Aaron Kromer was on Jon Gruden's coaching staff in Tampa Bay from 2005-07, beginning as a senior assistant and then taking over the O-Line duties for the following two seasons.
Mike Shula, the Bills' senior offensive assistant spent time with the Buccaneers as both a player and a coach. He was drafted by the Buccaneers in the 12th round in 1987 and was on the roster for one season but did not appear in any games. He then went immediately into coaching in 1988, joining the Bucs' staff as an offensive assistant for three years. After leaving for stints with the Dolphins and Bears, Shula returned to Tampa to serve as the offensive coordinator for new Head Coach Tony Dungy in 1996. Shula held that position for four seasons, through 1999.
Cornerback Herb Miller, who is on the Bills' practice squad, also spent time on Tampa Bay's practice squad, beginning in November of 2019 and ending in September of 2021. He was elevated from the practice squad for four games in 2020 and logged his only career interception in a win over the Detroit Lions.
Buccaneers safety Antoine Winfield, Jr. is the son of former Bills cornerback Antoine Winfield, a first-round selection in the 1999 draft by Buffalo. The elder Winfield played the first five of his 14 NFL seasons in Buffalo, starting 58 of 72 games and recording 357 tackles and six interceptions.
Tim Atkins, currently the Buccaneers' assistant secondary coach, was a defensive assistant with the Bills in 2011 and 2012.
Buccaneers Quarterbacks Coach Thaddeus Lewis played quarterback for the Bills in 2013, making five starts and throwing for 1,092 yards, four touchdowns and five interceptions.

SENIOR COACHING STAFFS

Tampa Bay:

Head Coach Todd Bowles
Assistant Head Coach/Run Game Coordinator Harold Goodwin
Offensive Coordinator Dave Canales
Run Game Coordinator/Defensive Line Coach Kacy Rodgers
Pass Game Coordinator/Inside Linebackers Coach Larry Foote
Special Teams Coordinator Keith Armstrong

Buffalo:

Head Coach Sean McDermott
Offensive Coordinator Ken Dorsey
Special Teams Coordinator Matthew Smiley

2023 ROSTER ADDITIONS

Buccaneers:

LB SirVocea Dennis (fifth-round draft pick)
OLB Yaya Diaby (third-round draft pick)
TE Payne Durham (fifth-round draft pick)
RB Chase Edmonds (FA)…currently on injured reserve
G Matt Feiler (FA)
DL Greg Gaines (UFA)
CB Josh Hayes (sixth-round draft pick)
S Christian Izien (UDFA)
WR Rakim Jarrett (UDFA)
DL Calijah Kancey (first-round draft pick)
G Cody Mauch (second-round draft pick)
QB Baker Mayfield (UFA)
K Chase McLaughlin (UFA)
S Ryan Neal (FA)
WR Trey Palmer (sixth-round draft pick)
RB Sean Tucker (UDFA)

Bills:

QB Kyle Allen (UFA)
G David Edwards (UFA)
DE Leonard Floyd (FA)
DT Poona Ford (FA)
RB Damien Harris (UFA)
WR Deonte Harty (UFA)
TE Dalton Kincaid (first-round draft pick)
RB Latavius Murray (UFA)
G Connor McGovern (UFA)
S Taylor Rapp (UFA)
WR Trent Sherfield (UFA)
WR Justin Shorter (fifth-round draft pick…currently on injured reserve)
G O'Cyrus Torrence (second-round draft pick)
LB Dorian Williams (third-round draft pick)

ADDITIONAL 2023 CHANGES/DEVELOPMENTS OF NOTE

Buccaneers:

Todd Bowles enters his second season as the Bucs' head coach with a new offensive coordinator on his staff. Former Seahawks Quarterbacks Coach Dave Canales takes over for Byron Leftwich, who spent four seasons in that role, the first three under Head Coach Bruce Arians. Canales helped quarterback Geno Smith go from journeyman to the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year in 2022 and has roots in the Kyle Shanahan/Sean McVay systems.
The Buccaneers made a number of other changes to Bowles' staff after the 2022 season, bringing in George Edwards (a former Vikings defensive coordinator) to coach outside linebackers, Brad Idzik to tutor wide receivers, and Skip Peete to take over the running backs room. David Raih and Jordan Somerville also joined the team as senior offensive analyst and assistant quarterbacks coach, respectively. With the arrival of Edwards, defensive Pass Game Coordinator Larry Foote switched from the outside linebacker room to the inside linebacker group. Thaddeus Lewis, who spent the previous two seasons as an assistant wide receivers coach, was promoted to quarterbacks coach.
After winning a Super Bowl and two division titles over the past three years, the Buccaneers saw an era come to an end when quarterback Tom Brady announced his retirement in late January. To move on at the game's most critical position, the Buccaneers brought in former number-one overall draft pick Baker Mayfield to compete with 2021 second-round selection Kyle Trask. Former Ram John Wolford was also added for experienced depth in the quarterback room. Mayfield was named the opening-day starter by Bowles between the second and third preseason games in August.
After largely "keeping the band together" for the 2021-22 seasons after their Super Bowl LV victory, the Buccaneers parted ways with a number of prominent players in 2023. Donovan Smith, who occupied the Bucs' starting left tackle spot for eight seasons, was released in March, as were tight end Cameron Brate, running back Leonard Fournette and kicker Ryan Succop. Safety Mike Edwards, quarterback Blaine Gabbert, cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting, safety Keanu Neal, defensive lineman Rakeem Nunez-Roches, wide receiver Breshad Perriman and tackle Josh Wells all found new homes in free agency while defensive lineman Akiem Hicks, wide receiver Julio Jones, outside linebacker Carl Nassib, tight end Kyle Rudolph and safety Logan Ryan were not re-signed.

Bills:

The Bills defense has been hit with significant injury misfortune in the month of October. First, standout cornerback Tre'Davious White suffered a torn Achilles tendon in a Week Four win over the Miami Dolphins, a season-ending injury that landed him on injured reserve on October 7. A week later, in a loss to the Jaguars in London, star linebacker Matt Milano sustained a league fracture and a knee injury, while defensive tackle DaQuan Jones suffered a pectoral injury. They were both placed on I.R. on October 11 and Head Coach Sean McDermott said they would both be out "indefinitely."
In a much more welcome health development, safety Damar Hamlin is back on the playing field. In a January 2 game against Cincinnati, Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest after making a tackle due to commotio cordis and had to be resuscitated on the field before being rushed to the hospital as he remained in critical condition. He returned home nine days later but still needed quite a bit of rehabilitation, and at first it was not certain whether he would be able to continue his playing career. However, Hamlin got full clearance from multiple specialists in April and returned to practice as a full participant on June 6. He then made the Bills' 53-man roster and played in his first game in Week Four against the Dolphins, logging 18 snaps on special teams.
After making a big splash in free agency by signing former Rams defensive end Von Miller, fresh off a Super Bowl championship, in March of 2022, the Bills saw their new edge rusher go down with a torn ACL in late November. He was not fully recovered by the start of this year's training camp and went on the active/PUP list when it began. He was moved to the reserve/PUP list to start the regular season, meaning he would have to miss at least the first four games of the season. He ended up with that minimum absence, coming back after Week Four and playing in the Bills' three games since.
In June, the Bills gave contract extensions to both General Manager Brandon Beane and Head Coach Sean McDermott, each of which run through the 2027 season. Beane and McDermott arrived in Buffalo together in 2017, coming over from the Carolina Panthers. They were also previously extended in 2020 and their latest extension is the result of a strong run for the Bills since they arrived. McDermott's regular-season record as a head coach is 66-37 and Buffalo went to the playoffs in five of his first six seasons at the helm.

INJURY REPORT

Key:

DNP: Did not participate in practice

LP: Limited participation in practice

FP: Full participation in practice

NL: Not listed

Buccaneers:

RB Chase Edmonds (knee) – MON: FP; TUES: FP
G Matt Feiler (knee) – MON: DNP; TUES: DNP
WR Chris Godwin (neck) – MON: DNP; TUES: LP
QB Baker Mayfield (knee) – MON: DNP; TUES: LP
S Kaevon Merriweather (ankle) – MON: DNP; TUES: DNP
DL Vita Vea (groin) – MON: DNP; TUES: DNP

Bills:

QB Josh Allen (right shoulder) – MON: FP; TUES: FP
LB Terrel Bernard (knee) – MON: FP; TUES: FP
T Spencer Brown (knee) – MON: FP; TUES: FP
CB Kaiir Elam (ankle) – MON: FP; TUES: FP
TE Dawson Knox (wrist) – MON: DNP; TUES: DNP
DE Von Miller (rest/knee) – MON: LP; TUES: LP
TE Quintin Morris (ankle) – MON: DNP; TUES: DNP
DT Ed Oliver (toe) – MON: LP; TUES: LP
DT Jordan Phillips (back) – MON: LP; TUES: LP
LB Baylor Spector (hamstring) – MON: DNP; TUES: DNP

WEATHER FORECAST

Expected evening temperature: 62, 21% chance of rain, 67% humidity, winds out of the SSW at 13 mph.

GAME REFEREE

Head referee: Scott Novak (10th season, fifth as referee)

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