The New England Patriots (2-2) and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-1) were on opposite ends of game-winning field goals on Sunday (Pats lost to the Carolina Panthers and the Bucs defeated the New York Giants), but on Thursday night they will be on opposite sidelines.
The Buccaneers host the Patriots to kick off week 5 of the NFL in a match between two teams that haven’t played each other often in their history as they have met only in eight games all time and this one will be the first one ever between New England’s Tom Brady and Tampa’s Jameis Winston.
The Bucs get running back Doug Martin back from suspension as he is eligible to play after serving a suspension for violating the NFL’s policy on performance enhancers.
The Bucs don’t seem to be concerned whether he will be rusty as he’s an experienced veteran that has been keeping in great shape and looks forward to helping the Bucs defeat the reigning Super Bowl champions.
The Bucs will most likely be without linebackers Kwon Alexander (hamstring) and Lavonte David (ankle) as they both missed practice on Wednesday. That’s definitely bad news for a Bucs defense that will go up against Tom Brady and company.
Fortunately for Tampa, the Patriots defense is facing even bigger issues as they are allowing a franchise record 32 points per game this season, a staggering number that ranks them 31st in the league, and is unprecedented for a unit commanded by defensive coordinator Matt Patricia.
The Patriots could be feeling a huge sense of urgency this week because they go on the road and didn’t have a lot of time to come up with answers to fix the many issues that affect their defense.
Although the Patriots have had struggles in past seasons, this is new to many defensive players as they are on pace to become the worst unit in franchise and league history.
The Patriots so far have allowed 128 points this season, in contrast, last year it took them eight weeks to reach that number.
The Patriots rank last in yards allowed per game (456.8), yards per play (7.2) and passing yards allowed per game (324). In fact, the Pats are the only team in the league that has allowed 300 or more passing yards four times this season.
