There are a few very strong games on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ schedule — they’re playing a first place schedule, after all.
The Bucs are still contending with a weak NFC South, but they’ll play a number of strong teams on their schedule. They’ll face off against C.J. Stroud and the Texans on Monday Night Football in Week 2, the defending-champion Philadelphia Eagles in Week 4, the vaunted Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football in Week 7 and a Sunday Night Football matchup in Los Angeles against the Rams in Week 12.
Those are all candidates for a big statement win for the Buccaneers, and all of them would indeed be just that for a team looking to definitively win its division instead of narrowly escaping with it. But there’s one game on the schedule that would certainly make a statement more than the others, and that would be the team’s Week 11 matchup against the Buffalo Bills.
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen drops back to pass against the Kansas City Chiefs. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
The Philadelphia Eagles are likely the most vaunted team on Tampa Bay’s schedule, but that game is at home and the Bucs have had the Eagles’ number recently. This game against the Bills will be on the road, and it could be decently chilly — it was 46 degrees in Buffalo that time last year, and while that’s not punishingly cold, it isn’t what the Bucs are used to down south.
Josh Allen was the NFL’s MVP last year, and he’ll look to pilot the Bills to a potential Super Bowl win once again in 2025. Todd Bowles’ biggest emphasis will be shaping up his defensive unit with new draft picks and free agents, and Allen could prove to be Tampa Bay’s hardest test. The last time the Bucs and the Bills faced off, Allen threw for 324 yards, completed 78% of his passes on 40 throws and threw two touchdowns, running for another as well. Tampa Bay will have to contain him, and if it can, it may really have the unit it wants in 2025.
There are a few strong games for the Bucs this year, but playing the MVP on the road in a colder environment? That would be a big win for the Bucs, and it would allow them to get revenge from two years ago. It’s hard to tell where they’ll be at this point of the season, but a win in Buffalo right before a huge gama against the Rams would give the team some momentum into the final stretch of the season.
