The 6-3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers hit the road in Week 11 to play a second straight AFC East opponent after their Week 10 home loss to New England. This time it's the 6-3 Buffalo Bills, who are chasing that red-hot Patriots squad and looking for a rebound after a surprising 30-13 loss in Miami last Sunday. The Bucs and Bills will do battle on Sunday, November 16 at Highmark Stadium in Buffalo, with kickoff scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET.

Both teams are coming off losses to AFC East teams in Week 10. The Buccaneers returned from their bye week to face the Patriots in Tampa and were stung by a string of long touchdowns in a 28-23 loss. The Bills were also in Florida on Sunday, playing the Dolphins in Miami and losing for just the second time in the last 16 meetings in that head to head series. The Buccaneers did manage some success on the ground against the NFL's number-one ranked rush defense, gaining 113 yards and averaging 5.4 yards per carry as Sean Tucker became the first opposing back to crack 50 yards against the Patriots this season. All three of the Baker Mayfield's touchdown passes went to rookies, as Emeka Egbuka and Tez Johnson – along with tight end Cade Otton – have become Mayfield's go-to targets while Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Bucky Irving are sidelined.

The Bills were gashed by De'Von Achane and the Dolphins' rushing attack, as Achane ran for 174 of the team's 197 rushing yards and scored two touchdowns. Josh Allen threw for 306 yards and two touchdowns for the Bills but was intercepted once, lost a fumble and was sacked three times. Allen didn't get his usual support from the James Cook-led rushing attack, as Cook was held to 53 yards and the Bills got 87 overall. Even so, the Bills still lead the NFL with 153.2 rushing yards per game and Cook is averaging a whopping 102.2 rushing yards per game. Two of the Bills' three losses have been to Atlanta and Miami, teams with a combined six wins overall, but they have also already beaten Baltimore and Kansas City. The Bills' defense recently lost standout defensive tackle Ed Oliver to injured reserve but 2025 free agency pickup Joey Bosa is playing well and leads the team with 4.0 sacks.

Here are four major storylines and four head-to-head player battles to keep an eye on in Week 11as the Bucs head to Buffalo to face a top AFC contender.

TOP STORYLINES

Keeping the Lid On – The Patriots broke out with four plays of 54 or more yards against the Bucs in Week 10, and those four plays – a 72-yard touchdown catch by Kyle Williams, scoring runs of 69 and 55 yards by TreVeyon Henderson and a 54-yard grab down to the Bucs' eight by Mack Hollins – accounted for 57.5 percent of the team's total offensive output. If the Buccaneers had managed to stop even one of those three long touchdowns, they might have come away with the victory after losing by just five points. That was obviously a major concern for Head Coach Todd Bowles after the game, as he assessed the Bucs' offense as being good but not great due to too many ill-timed mental errors and missed tackles. "Most of the time, we're very good," said Bowles. "It's just one or two guys that have a blank or a [mental error] here or there that costs everybody else, and it's a different guy each time, and we've got to get that fixed." Hopefully, there will be some repairs in that regard by this weekend, because a banged-up Bucs' offense could have trouble hanging in a shootout with the NFL's sixth-highest scoring team. Cook, who already has touchdown runs of 64 and 44 yards this year, is certainly capable of going the distance if the Bucs let him get out into open space and Allen has a cannon for a right arm that will blow up a defense if it lets a pass-catcher get behind it. Tampa Bay's defense is capable of big plays, too, with 26 sacks (10th in the NFL) and 13 takeaways (tied for seventh) in nine games but it has to limit the number of times opposing offenses hit on chunk plays.

Pride and Accountability – After the loss to New England on Sunday, in which the Buccaneers' offense scored a touchdown on its opening drive but then punted on four of its next five possessions, Mayfield repeated a theme of accountability multiple times in his postgame press conference. He said that starts with him and added, "That's what I told the team and told the offense after the game. At some point, when the stuff comes up during the week, whether it'smistakes or things we talk about and then it shows up on Sundays, you have to have some pride about you. You [have] to have the fear of that failure and messing up for your teammates when we talk about something, you [have] to have better responsibility and accountability for the guys around you and get it fixed." On Monday, Head Coach Todd Bowles seemed to agree with that sentiment, adding that the Bucs' lacked a "killer instinct" in Sunday's game. How will the rest of the Bucs' roster respond to those thoughts this week as the team prepares for another big challenge against a prime Super Bowl contender in Buffalo? Will Mayfield's vocal leadership spur the team to a more focused, complete and energetic effort in Week 11?

Applying Pressure – Prior to their Week Nine bye, the Buccaneers were heating up on defense when it came to getting to the quarterback. Tampa Bay's defense racked up 15 sacks in the three games from Weeks 6-8, and that was a significant factor in wins over the 49ers and Saints. That looked like it could be the edge the Bucs needed heading into a Week 10 matchup with the Patriots, whose offense was humming behind rising-star quarterback Drake Maye. Coming into that game, Maye had been sacked 34 times, second-most in the NFL to Tennessee rookie Cam Ward, and it seemed like getting pressure on the young passer was the only sure way to slow him down. Unfortunately, the Buccaneers did not get home often against the Patriots, with rookie Elijah Roberts' accounting for the team's lone sack, for one yard. Now they will face another quarterback who is very good on the run in Allen, the reigning NFL MVP. That Allen would win an MVP award at some point in his career seemed like a foregone conclusion, as he is clearly one of the best quarterbacks the NFL has seen in the las couple decades. Like almost everyquarterback, though, he is less effective when pressured, and the difference is large this season. Overall, Allen has a 105.7 passer rating, a 70.3% completion percentage and a 51.0% success rate (according to NFL Next Gen Stats). When under pressure, those numbers drop to 78.9, 55.4% and 36.8%, respectively. The Bucs need to avoid giving Allen time to survey the field, and they need some of their pressures to turn into sacks on Sunday in order to put the Bills' offense behind the sticks on occasion.

First Time for Everything – In Week Two of this season, the Buccaneers went to Houston for a Monday night prime-time affair with the Texans and left with a 20-19 victory. That was a momentous occasion for the NFL's 27th franchise, because in 49 previous seasons the Bucs had never before won a regular-season game in the Space City. That extended back to their earliest seasons, when they were playing the Oilers – now the Tennessee Titans – in the Astrodome. Now that the Bucs have checked off that box, there are only two cities in the NFL in which the team has never logged a win: Buffalo and Nashville (the Titans' home after leaving Texas). That list could be pared down to just one with a win on Sunday. Frankly, the Bucs haven't had manyopportunities to log that first win in Western New York, as this will be just their fourth trip to Buffalo in the regular season. The other three have all come since the NFL realigned in 2002 and changed their scheduling format to lean on rotational divisional matchups, guaranteeing at least one trip to every AFC venue every eight seasons. The Buccaneers are off to a good start in 2025 with their road missions, winning four of their first tries away from home. While four of those five occurred in domes, an outdoor game in Seattle led to a 38-35 victory in Week Five. The Bucs are not likely to get a classic snow game at Highmark Stadium this Sunday, but afternoon showers and an 18-mph wind could make a day in the mid-40s a little disagreeable. If the Bucs an overcome those elements and a tough Bills squad, they could check another box in Week 11.

KEY MATCHUPS

1. Bills WR Khalil Shakir vs. Buccaneers CB Jacob Parrish

Khalil Shakir, the Bills' leading receiver with 45 catches for 457 yards and three touchdowns, has taken 50% of his snaps out of the slot, making that his most common starting spot on routes. More than half of his receptions – 24 for 249 yards and one touchdown – have come with him aligned in the slots. That make Shakir the primary concern for rookie cornerback Jacob Parrish on Sunday, as Parrish has settled in as the Buccaneers' starting slot corner this season. One of the main challenges for Parrish will be tackling, as the Bills like to get the ball into Shakir's hands quickly with a chance for yards after the catch. Of those 457 yards on the season, 80.3% of them have come after the catch, and he's one of the NFL's best in that capacity, as he has racked up 68 yards after the catch over expected and he has caught nearly 78% of the passes thrown his way. Parrish has taken well to the nickel back role in his debut campaign, recording 37 tackles, five tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks and three passes defensed. He does give up two inches to the 6-0, 190-pound Shakir but he is a willing and physical tackler. Parrish is adept at the quick change-of-direction skills needed in the slot and is capable of working his way through traffic in the middle of the field.

2. Buccaneers RB Sean Tucker vs. Bills LB Terrel Bernard

Sean Tucker's role in the Bucs' offense has increased significantly while Bucky Irving has been sidelined by injury, and he has led the team in rushing in each of the last two games. Tucker gave the Bucs' run game a bit of a big-play boost against the Patriots, with three runs of 12 or more yards and his steady improvement in pass protection has helped the coaches feel more comfortable having him on the field in passing situations. Todd Bowles said the Bucs would have a "hot hand" approach when doling out reps in the backfield while Irving is out, so if Tucker can get off to a nice start in Buffalo he could see even more of an uptick in his playing time. Bowles said that Tucker is good at bouncing off tacklers and bouncing his carries to the outside and getting around the corner. Terrel Bernard is the Bills' second-leading tackler behind safety Cole Bishop, with 41 stops, a team-high 30 of which have come on running plays. A former third-round pick in 2022, Bernard moved into a starting role in his second season and produced 143 tackles in 2023 and another 104 in 13 games in 2024. The Bills acknowledged the very importantrole that Bernard plays in their defense last March when they signed him to a four-year, $50 million contract extension. He has also been chosen as a team captain by his teammates each of the past two years.

3. Bills G David Edwards vs. Buccaneers DL Elijah Roberts

Elijah Roberts, a fifth-round pick out of SMU, is another rookie off to a strong start for the Buccaneers, and his role in the defense continues to grow each week. Against the Patriots, he started and played 67% of the snaps, producing some of the biggest plays on defense for the Buccaneers in that contest. That included the team's only sack of Drake Maye, as well as a third-down pass deflection and another tackle of Maye on a third-down scramble, with those last two plays leading to punts. Roberts best attribute is his ability to get quick penetration off the ball – he led all of college football with 131 quarterback pressures across the 2023-24 seasons – but his improving play against the run is what helped get him into the starting lineup. He will see plenty of action against David Edwards, the seventh-year veteran who is in his third season in Buffalo.After serving as a reserve in 2023, his first season with the Bills, he started 16 games at left guard last season and has opened all nine contests at that spot in 2025. According to Pro Football Focus, Edwards has only one sack and committed only one penalty so far while taking part in 579 offensive snaps. The 6-6, 308-pound blocker is physical at the point of attack and has made a major contribution to the Bills' rushing attack, which leads the NFL with an average of 153.2 yards per game.

4. Buccaneers T Luke Goedeke vs. Bills DE Joey Bosa

Goedeke gave the Bucs' ever-changing offensive line a boost in Week 10 when he returned from a six-game absence to resume his role at right tackle. Goedeke used the 2023 and 2024 seasons to establish himself as one of the better right tackles in the NFL after initially playing left guard as a rookie, and the Bucs rewarded him just before the start of this season with a lucrative contract extension. Goedeke is a barrel-chested mauler who loves to get physical with opposing defenders, and he was a big reason why the Bucs' offense finished fourth in the NFL in rushing yards last season. Tampa Bay's ground game hasn't been as effective in 2025, in part due to injuries to Irving and multiple offensive linemen, but it gained 113 yards against the Patriots' top-ranked rush defense last Sunday. That this happened upon Goedeke's return to the lineup was probably not a coincidence. In addition to his high level of play, Goedeke is also a tone-setter emotionally for that group with his play-to-the-whistle approach. Joey Bosa has been a quality free agent addition to the Bills' defense this season, as he leads the team with 4.0 sacks and 12 QB hits and has been on the field for 66% of the team's defensive snaps, his highest percentage in four seasons. Bosa has produced a pressure rate of 16.1% according to NGS, which ranks 11th in the NFL among all players with at least 100 pass rush snaps. The former third-overall pick in 2016 has 76.0 career sacks and hit double digits in that category in four of his nine years with the Chargers before coming to Buffalo.