The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will welcome the New England Patriots to Raymond James Stadium in a game that will see Todd Bowles' test get a stern test of their Super Bowl credentials.
The Buccaneers are coming off their bye week and will be fresh and ready to roll, but Mike Vrabel's team is in some serious form, winning their last six games on the bounce and Drake Maye is putting himself into the MVP conversation.
So, this game will tell us a lot about the Buccaneers and where they sit in the Super Bowl pecking order, and for CBS Sports' Pete Prisco, in his prediction, Tampa Bay halts the Patriots momentum.
“This is the best game of the week, with both teams legitimate Super Bowl contenders,” Prisco wrote. “The Bucs are coming off a bye, which they needed. They are getting healthier. It's also nice to be at home. Baker Mayfield will outplay Drake Maye to win it as the Bucs snap the Patriots' winning streak.”
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Buccaneers have chance to establish Super Bowl threat
There might not be a more in-form team in football than the Patriots, and if the Buccaneers, who are likely to again be without Chris Godwin and Bucky Irving, manage to hand New England its first loss since Week 3, that will make the NFL stand up and take notice.
Most have the Buccaneers as a playoff team, but anything more than that, people are skeptical.
But beat the Patriots with the long list of offensive injuries, yeah, that might move the needle. Granted, it won't be easy with Vrabel's team a fundamentally sound unit, so Tampa Bay is going to have to be on point on both sides of the ball.
The Buccaneers, at 6-2, have a real chance to plant their Super Bowl flag in the ground. Prisco thinks they will. I think so too.
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