Goodbye, Spencer Rattler!
November 7th, 2025
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BY IRA KAUFMAN
Graduation Day is upon us.
Give the Bucs their due for a 6-2 getaway that is tied for tops in the NFC. Tampa Bay has played some of the conference’s elite clubs, but the cumulative record for the first eight opponents is an unsightly 31-35.
That’s about to change in a big way.
Coming off a much-needed week off, the Bucs face the Patriots at home Sunday, followed by road matchups against the Bills and Rams. Those three teams are a combined 19-6, in large part because of the stellar play of their quarterbacks.
Buc fans should be confident in Tampa Bay’s rush defense, which ranks No. 7 in the league. Guess who is No. 1? New England.
Todd Bowles isn’t losing sleep about a Patriots ground game that averages a paltry 3.9 yards per carry. The only guy Bowles should worry about as a ball carrier is second-year pro Drake Maye, who leads all NFL quarterbacks with 59 rushing attempts.
Maye does the bulk of his damage with his accurate right arm, topping the league with a 74.1 percent completion rate. He makes smart decisions and throws on time, so Bowles is determined to place Maye under duress.
Tampa Bay’s revived pass rush welcomes the challenge against a young QB who has already been sacked 34 times.
“They’ve got veteran players who play physical,” Patriots coach Mike Vrabel said of a Buc defense that forced four turnovers in New Orleans before the bye. “What Todd adds is a lot of pressure, great disguises and bringing multiple players from off the football.”
Maye’s mobility and willingness to scramble makes the task more complex. Don’t be shocked if Bowles utilizes a spy to keep Maye from drifting out of the pocket.
In emerging as a legitimate MVP candidate, Maye has led the Patriots to an unbeaten mark on the road, including a victory at Buffalo.
This feels like a game that’s got a little bit extra to it,” Maye said of Sunday’s matchup, which has drawn the premier CBS announcing team of Jim Nantz and Tony Romo.
It’s the best game of the Week 10 slate as the Bucs begin a treacherous 3-game gauntlet before the schedule softens. Tampa Bay’s pass defense is gearing up to face three of the league’s top quarterbacks.
Maye isn’t surrounded by stellar targets. He doesn’t have an Emeka Egbuka, but he spreads the ball around and has thrown four TD passes to veteran tight end Hunter Henry, who should draw extra attention in the red zone.
Josh Allen is the league’s reigning MVP — and he’s got a decent shot to repeat. Matt Stafford has thrown an NFL-high 21 TD passes, so he’s also in the conversation for the NFL’s most prestigious individual award.
Overall, Maye, Allen and Stafford have combined for 51 TD passes and only 12 interceptions. A healthy and refreshed Buc secondary will be severely tested.
This isn’t Spencer Rattler under center.
Yards per pass attempt is a key metric when assessing QB play. Maye ranks third (9.0), Allen is fifth (8.2) and Stafford is No. 8 (7.8) while Mayfield is 16th at 7.1.
If the Bucs go 2-1 during this gauntlet, they’ll be in great shape for the stretch run. At 8-3, you’d have to figure Tampa Bay finishes with at least 12 wins, earning one of the NFC’s top seeds. But it won’t be easy.
New England is 4-0 on the road, Buffalo’s only home loss came against the Patriots and the Rams are 3-1 at home, the only blemish an OT setback against the 49ers.
“It’ll be critical that we take care of the football,” Vrabel said.
For the Bucs, it’s all about taking care of business the next three weeks.
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November 7th, 2025 at 1:45 pm
Reportedly, Maye has a very accurate deep ball, and that is the primary reason they have done so well. Take that away from them, preferably with a couple picks, and we “should” have an easy time of it.
November 7th, 2025 at 1:46 pm
Need to win this one. Highly doubt we can beat the Bills, and we never beat the Rams except when we both sucked in 2022 and Brady pulled off his last magic.
Todd — keep the foot on the gas pedal and hopefully whatever work you did with your OC during the bye will bear fruit.
November 7th, 2025 at 1:50 pm
Bucs have played a difficult schedule. The Jets and Saints games skew the won/loss record of their opponents a good amount. Bucs are 2-2 against the NFL elite teams.
November 7th, 2025 at 1:51 pm
Spies do not keep QB’s from drifting out of the pocket, spies keep the QB from hurting you with chunk plays running when they do drift out of the pocket.
November 7th, 2025 at 1:55 pm
HIT HIM EARLY AND OFTEN!!!!
he’ll start seeing ghost!!!
GO BUCS!!!!
November 7th, 2025 at 1:59 pm
Joe … ‘If the Bucs go 2-1 during this gauntlet, they’ll be in great shape for the stretch run.’
Very true Joe, but the next 3 teams we’re playing are virtually guaranteed to make the playoffs. All 3 currently have Top-10 offenses AND Top-10 defenses at the halfway-through-the-season mark. Bucs have a similar Won-Loss record, but are well behind all 3 in terms of Points Scored (#14) & Points Allowed (#13). We won’t be favored in a single one of those 3 games (and especially since we’re playing 2 of them away).
I’d love to go 3-0 or 2-1, but I’ll be satisfied going 1-2 given our current injury state. If we’re 7-4 with 6 games to go, there’s an excellent chance we’ll end up 11-6 and potentially even better than that. SHOULD be ‘good enough’ to win the NFC South and make the playoffs. That’s Goal 1.
November 7th, 2025 at 2:01 pm
813
He is one of the most sacked QB’s in the league right now, and yet has a 74% completion rate? Many of those completions are deep balls.
I don’t think he’s seeing ghosts yet.
November 7th, 2025 at 2:12 pm
Patriots best Running back and top TD receiver and leading tackler out for Sunday’s game, nice!!! Go Bucs!!
November 7th, 2025 at 2:14 pm
@Defense Rules…Bucs are favored against the Patriots on Sunday.
November 7th, 2025 at 2:14 pm
Keep him in the pocket and squeeze him. Don’t let him escape to his right, Nellie’s side.
November 7th, 2025 at 2:27 pm
The team holds its own fate. Not a bad position to be in. After the next three games if the defense has established consistecy and the offense has raised its own play to where it is potentially capable. They win 2 out of 3. They will be marching toward a conference championship with the sun in their faces and the wind at their backs. Not holding my breath and I’m not ruling it out.
November 7th, 2025 at 2:46 pm
ocala … ‘Bucs are favored against the Patriots on Sunday.’
I’m surprised given all our injuries. But apparently the Patriots have a couple of key injuries also, so maybe that aspect balanced out.
November 7th, 2025 at 3:25 pm
I bet the over 48 with one of my parlays….stayed away from the rest of it though. I need to see how we’re playing (and Baker) before i start taking us again.
November 7th, 2025 at 3:39 pm
Sage, gotta like your theory we might put a spy on Maye. A young confident QB like he is I’d do that in a heartbeat if I was the coach. And I think SirVocea would make the perfect spy. He wouldn’t have to cover running backs and tight ends running across the field. No confusion, just one job. All game long. He’d do a great job and Maye would have a tough game. Yep. I can see that happening.
November 7th, 2025 at 3:41 pm
@DefenseRules, given the injuries we’re dealing with, I’ve got to agree with you. If we win just one of the next 3 games, we’ll be fine, as long as we don’t keep stacking up additional key injuries.
Either way, I don’t anticipate anything from preventing the BUCS from getting into the playoffs.
But they need to get some guys healthier if they’re going to go deep into the playoffs.
November 7th, 2025 at 3:51 pm
Back when I played we had a position we called Rover. It was also called Monster. Roverback or Monsterback. It was one of our DBs but we’d play linebacker level and play the ball. No coverage responsibilities, just QB to handoff or pitch, and if QB threw you were a rusher. I think the spy does the same thing. We didn’t run the rover defense much, but when we did the rover always led the team in tackles. We ran it only against the really athletic QBs.
November 7th, 2025 at 4:09 pm
Thanks to [playing a last place schedule the Pats have 7 wins. Playing first place slate the Bucs have 6.
November 7th, 2025 at 4:24 pm
The closer we get to this game the more confident I am that the Bucs will win and possibly win big.
Pats have played a cupcake schedule with losses to the Raiders and Steelers. They beat the Bills, Falcons, Browns, Dolphins, Panthers, Saints, Titans. Not exactly murderers row there.
Bucs are rested and hungry. Luke is back. Hopefully Mayfield feels right… if Grizzard has it together and the D is flying… Bucs are about to knock NE down a peg.
November 7th, 2025 at 4:47 pm
gp, no such thing as an easy time.. This is a very good team but I would not say they are better than the Lions or Eagles. We can win this game if we don’t beat ourselves and Todd puts together a solid gameplan to throw at Maye and Co.
November 7th, 2025 at 5:12 pm
BuucccNASTY. DR spent time educating all of us about not beating ourselves. You guys are dead on. Not alot of difference in players throughout this league. The key is not beating ourselves. And we’re getting pretty good at it.
November 7th, 2025 at 5:39 pm
Shouldn’t be surprised we’re favored at home coming off a bye. Have to also remember the Pats have had an easy schedule, the Bills being their big win. Be a good test for both teams.
November 7th, 2025 at 5:39 pm
Massey Has Tampa ranked #5; New England #13 Tampa raked as 13th toughest schedule; New England as 32nd (easiest in the NFL);
Sagarin has Tampa rated 10th and New England 16th.
DVOA has Tampa 13th and New England 14th. Tampa is ranked as 7th Best defense; New England as 25th.