The Carlton Davis Revenge Game
November 5th, 2025
Joe loves the revenge game concept.
Earlier this season, Joe was fired up to see the Haason Reddick revenge games against the Eagles and Jets.
The idea was that Reddick, the newcomer Bucs edge rusher, would be all jacked up to face his former teams, clubs for which he had some beef. Well, those games didn’t materialize into anything terribly exciting from Reddick.
But some revenge games can deliver something special and Joe wonders whether that will happen Sunday.
That’s when the Patriots will enter The Licht House with a 7-2 record and tens of thousands adoring Patriots fans screaming for their team.
On that New England team is Buccaneers Super Bowl cornerback Carlton Davis. The 2018 Bucs second-round draft pick was the Bucs’ top-dog cornerback from 2019 through 2023. Then the Bucs punted Davis in March of last year in a trade with the Lions.
Tampa Bay recouped a third-round draft pick but also coughed up multiple sixth-round picks along with Davis. The veteran cornerback’s response on social media seemed to be one of surprise.
After an injury-plagued season in Detroit last year, Davis was gifted a massive contract in New England, where he hasn’t missed a game but is their No. 2 cornerback behind Christian Gonzalez, the Patriots’ first-round pick in 2023.
Davis is an emotional guy and a trash talker. And he’ll be all jacked up for Sunday, Joe suspects, locked in on pregame Bucs film and heckling Baker Mayfield, and anyone else under whose skin he thinks he can get under.
It might amount to nothing, but Davis is a talented player at 28 years old. Joe is confident Davis wants to show the Bucs he’s a lot better than Zyon McCollum, the guy who replaced him.
November 5th, 2025 at 8:24 pm
Eff Davis III and his 11 INTs over 8 years.
Dude is trash and lucky he’s made the bank he’s made.
With that said, wouldn’t be surprised if he has a career day against this listless offense.
November 5th, 2025 at 8:30 pm
Let’s hope he plays like he did here the last couple years 10 yards off everyone
November 5th, 2025 at 8:33 pm
Davis is head and shoulders better than McCollum. We just allocated money elsewhere. I keep asking – name ONE WR1 Zyon has shut down. EVER. ONE.
I’ll wait.
November 5th, 2025 at 8:33 pm
Zion for the pick 🤞🏼👍🏼
November 5th, 2025 at 8:40 pm
This listeless offense thats missing its TOP three offensive skill positions outside of Bake?
November 5th, 2025 at 8:41 pm
Name one big play Davis made in his career… We’ll wait
November 5th, 2025 at 8:44 pm
You know what we need.. and from what I watch, every team needs is fake passes.
Can’t remember where I saw it but stats show players are biting on everything these days. Ahem* play action is successful … anyway last year Coen schemed that fake screen then Baker hit Godwin up the sideline for an easy TD.
Let’s get Carlton biting on something like that. Teams know we love the screen game, fake it out there and go over top of them.
I know you need time to pull these things off but the DL trying to kill Baker or any QB is biting on the quick ball out if they see it. Bucky essentially scored the same way this year just wasn’t a fake it was time to change the route up field.
November 5th, 2025 at 8:45 pm
Yes the offense is listless due to the injuries.
Egbuka, Shep and Johnson aren’t scaring anyone, especially with a weak offensive line and no Bucky.
Defenses are licking their chops and going to tee-off just like the Lions and Saints did.
November 5th, 2025 at 9:32 pm
Revenge??? That’s for junior high kids.
November 5th, 2025 at 9:39 pm
Davis was Detroit’s top corner and played 13 games last year – many think him being injured in the playoffs is why the defense collapsed. Not sure why anyone would think he had a down year – there’s a reason the Pats paid him a ton of money.
Also, he was shipped out of town after he called out Bowles for playing that god awful super soft zone defense so much – pointing out the obvious, that himself and Dean were drafted as man-to-man corners and won a Super Bowl being aggressive, they do not excel standing around in zone.
As for a revenge game – I don’t know. He didn’t seem to hold a grudge when I’ve heard him talk about Tampa. But I know he’s a lot more happy to be facing Tez or Shepard vs facing Evans or a healthy Godwin.
November 5th, 2025 at 9:49 pm
Hot take Davis gets hurt on Sunday cause he is like glass and will break easily
November 5th, 2025 at 9:51 pm
he had his chance at revenge as a detroit lion…
now he’s on to his 2nd marriage past tampa…
chilly winters up north…he will need a bowl of clam chowder 🙂
November 5th, 2025 at 10:12 pm
I remember CD3 at initial Detroit press conference….”Zone, well I’m not that good at that. Now MAN, ohhhhh yeah”
” can you give us an example”?
“ummmmm”
November 5th, 2025 at 10:19 pm
The Bucs are doomed if they do not run on New England.
The Bucs have had two weeks to figure out how to make it work.
The Patriot OLB rotation is dangerous, so it should be attacked! The OLB rotation on the right may be the strongest, and it is the side I would have the Bucs attack.
Whether a pass play or a run play, the Bucs need to attack the right side OLB on just about every play.
With Kief on injured reserve, Tucker should get plenty of reps at fullback, and he needs to hit an OLB on almost every play like he is hitting the hole at the goal line; he needs to knock his man down. Then, if it his a run play, he should look for a place to help out; if it is a pass play, he needs to look back immediately and jet into an open window if Baker is pressured, or look for daylight if Baker is well protected.
The tight ends and pulling lineman should all get their turns to deliver doses of momentum to the designated OLB.
Just lining up with an extra tackle or tight end on the line is not going to get it done. The Patriot OLBs are too good; they will just stack and shed and cut off the play.
The Bucs need some serious (m)ass in motion before contact to deliver a serious dose of momentum to the designated OLB. You want the OLB rotation on that side slowed significantly by the time the third quarter is underway..
If Goedeke is back, I would really like to see Heck line up as fullback or go in motion as a tight end. Heck struggles to anchor in pass protection, but he can hit his man as a move blocker.
Just because the designated momentum player is targeting an OLB does not mean that the play has to be a run play. And, if the play is a run play, it doesn’t have to go toward the targeted OLB.
or even that run plays mean that Baker cannot still pass the ball; it just means that the Patriots will not be able to drop four and send seven like the Lions could when the Bucs abandoned the run. Ideally, the Buc would rotate a couple of guys in the fullback role.
I would start with Patriot
November 5th, 2025 at 10:22 pm
BF81
My guess is he runs into Jamel Dean in pregame and they’re both ruled out of the game😂
November 5th, 2025 at 10:26 pm
Love those Pats fans, the money the are willing to cough up for my tickets , Yee Haw Baby ! Top $ this year !
November 5th, 2025 at 10:31 pm
Carlton Davis when on the field is a solid player, however, he can’t stay on it, that’s why the bucs traded him.
November 5th, 2025 at 11:34 pm
Knobs should not be allowed to breed.
November 5th, 2025 at 11:38 pm
“The Bucs are doomed if they do not run on New England.”
Name someone who’s gotten more than 55 yards rushing on them this year.
Unless the Bucs offense got better over the break, Sunday’s game is going to be a low-scoring defensive slug fest. The Bucs should win this game, but NE is a good team this year. This should be NE’s toughest game of the season so far.
November 5th, 2025 at 11:44 pm
Nnnooo… body.
November 5th, 2025 at 11:45 pm
Best brace yourself. No one runs on the Patriots.
November 6th, 2025 at 12:10 am
If Byron Leftwich were still OC, we’d be running two thirds of the time- remembering Steelers 2022.
November 6th, 2025 at 1:00 am
This game reeks of Denver last year.