In a battle of first-place teams and Super Bowl hopefuls, the 7-2 New England Patriots will be taking a trip down south this Sunday to go against the 6-2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After downing the New Orleans Saints, the Buccaneers are looking to come out of the bye week with a victory by beating a surging New England team. Meanwhile, the Pats are hoping to improve to 8-2 on the season with their seventh consecutive win.

The Bucs haven't played a football game since October 26th, which means there could be some rust coming out of the gate after having two full weeks off. Tampa head coach Todd Bowles knows what his guys have to do to come out hot and not look sluggish.

“Just starting over [and] doing the little things right. We’ve got to do the little things right,” Bowles told reporters on Thursday. “At this point, everybody's seen what you're going to do. You've seen what they're gonna do. It's a matter of executing and who executes more.”

Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield has been playing at an MVP level this season, ranking in the top half of the league in passer rating (15th), passing yards per game (13th), and passing TDs (tied for 14th), even though Tampa Bay has been dealing with injuries to several key offensive playmakers. That's why Mayfield said the bye week came at a perfect time for the team.

"[It] definitely helps getting rest," Mayfield said after Tampa's Wednesday practice. "Just still moving the body around a little bit, not letting yourself get too sore, but then also the non-contact definitely helps."

When it comes to actually preparing for the Patriots, Todd Bowles understands that the Bucs will have to contain second-year quarterback Drake Maye. He is fifth in the league in QBR (74.2) and ranks second in passer rating (116.9). Bowles explained how Maye and the Pats' head coach, Mike Vrabel, have had the team "on a roll" this season.

“[They're a] tough football team. I think Vrabel does a very good job getting those guys ready, crossing the T's and dotting the I’s,” Bowles said. “They're very tough defensively up front. Offensively, they're huge. The quarterback's playing out of the world right now. He's playing great ball with his legs and his arm. [He] has a great touch and great feel for everything they're doing, and they're really on a roll.”

Mike Vrabel knows that his squad is going up against a good quarterback as well. He described how it will be a "great challenge" for New England's 20th-ranked pass defense (223.6 yards per game allowed) to game plan for Baker Mayfield.

“I think that there's a belief there that if they have the football, they're going to find a way to win, which is what they did early in the season,” Vrabel said during a November 5th interview. “He won a lot of close games for ‘em early in the season, and then they've played really well. They've played consistently. Their two losses are against two really good football teams in Detroit and Philadelphia. We know how good (the Buccaneers) are.”

One way the Pats can improve their chances of winning is by protecting quarterback Drake Maye, who has taken the second-most sacks this season (34). That'll be tough against a Bucs defense that ranks in the top ten in that category (tied for eighth).

“I think that we're trying to thread a fine line here of making those plays off schedule… and then doing something where we hang on to it a little longer than maybe we could, and then incur a negative play or a turnover," explained Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels on Thursday. "I think, generally speaking, our pass protection has been pretty sound. And I also think that (Maye's) made some really good plays with his legs and extended some things, and made some good pass plays by extending the plays. So, I don't think we want to overcoach that and take that away from him, which we're not doing. I think as a young player who's going to continue to learn - hopefully - we'll eventually find that real sweet spot where it's like, ’I have a great feeling for this. I don't feel like there's something there, but I also don't think there's a great opening for me to extend it.’ And then making some decisions to do something else with the ball."

Drake Maye acknowledged that the Bucs are a blitz-heavy team that will give him many different looks on Sunday. Maye said that he and the offensive line will have to bring their A-game if they want to steal a victory on the road.

"They bring a lot of different guys. They're good blitzers. They bring linebackers. They bring safeties. They bring corners at times. They bring a lot of different people, and they're they're good at blitzing, and they've played in that defense with Coach Bowles for a while," he explained. "They're a veteran defense with some good guys already up front, so bringing more blitzers just makes it tougher on us. We've got to be on our P's and Q's in the blitz game."

Prediction for New England Patriots @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-2.5)

Turnovers and sacks played a huge part in New England's two losses this season. In those games, the Patriots turned the ball over five total times and gave up nine sacks. That's bad news for the Pats, considering the Bucaneers are ranked in the top ten in takeaways (sixth) and sacks (tied for eighth). Tampa also has home-field advantage and has had two weeks to prepare for this game. Though wide receiver Chris Godwin and running back Bucky Irving probably won't play this week, Tampa should still be slight favorites over New England.

Prediction: Buccaneers 27 - 25 Patriots

How to watch New England Patriots @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-2.5)

Patriots @ Buccaneers starts at 1:00 p.m. EDT at Raymond James Stadium. You can watch it on CBS or stream it via the Paramount+ app or YouTubeTV.

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