This will be Tom Brady’s first game against Baltimore with the Buccaneers, but the Ravens know all about Brady.
They just haven’t seen a Brady-led attack in such a state in some time. Brady has faced John Harbaugh’s Ravens 10 times over the years — six in the regular season and four more in the playoffs, all coming with Brady in New England.
Brady has been much more effective against them in regular season encounters, but now he and his 3-4 Buccaneers will limp in what looks to be a pivotal game in Thursday’s game against Baltimore at Raymond James Stadium. Tampa Bay’s offensive issues have been present for most of the season, but have been more pronounced in the past three games, with the Bucs scoring 21, 18 and three-pointers.
Sunday’s loss to Carolina was the team’s low point so far, with head coach Todd Bowles saying “it’s about as dark as it’s going to get.” The Bucs have now lost four out of five games and are averaging a paltry 17.7 points per game.
“We haven’t played at our level and what we are capable of,” Brady said this week. “It’s our reality, and we have to own it.”
Baltimore moved to 4-3 after the close win over the Browns on Sunday. Cleveland missed a field goal and lost a late fumble in the Finals 23-20. It’s been a ping pong season, as the Ravens haven’t won – or lost – more than one game in a row.
Brady and Lamar Jackson clashing is, on paper, one of the best QB battles you can imagine. But lately, these offenses have been getting stuck in nightmare mode more often.
Here are four things to look out for when the Ravens visit the Buccaneers Thursday night on Prime Video:
- The Bucs badly need a good start. Adding up their first four drives in every game this season, they’ve scored just two touchdowns and eight field goals in those 28 possessions. In the first quarters this season, the Bucs were outscored, 34-15; it was the only quarter where they gave up more runs than they scored (the Ravens simultaneously beat their opponents, 37-13, in the first quarters this season). Injuries made it worse – WR Russell Gage (hamstring) is among six Buccaneers ruled out — though Tampa Bay could pick up WR Julio Jones (knee), RG Shaq Mason (ankle) and TE Ko Kieft (ankle) for this game. But the struggles go beyond that. The Buccaneers can’t run the ball – sooner or later – and as a result Brady’s play passes have fallen flat this season. Maybe look for offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich to try and get Brady into a rhythm early with some tempo. When they needed a spark against Atlanta, the Bucs didn’t cuddle and went 88 yards for a touchdown. Then they barely used a rushing approach in the last two losses.
- And the Ravens must finish better. They have squandered leads of 10 or more points three times in their first six games and had to sweat Sunday’s narrow victory. Since dropping 37 points at Foxborough in Week 3, Jackson and the Baltimore offense have averaged 20.5 points and 320 yards; in the first three games, those numbers were 33.0 and 380 respectively. last minutes of matches. Four of Jackson’s six INTs this season and the Ravens’ three lost fumbles came in fourth. On defense, they allowed 856 yards and 10 touchdowns, the worst in the NFL, this quarter. Sure, the Ravens’ depth has been undermined by injuries, but that shouldn’t be that bad. John Harbaugh is too good a coach for that to happen so often. Last week they didn’t trust their block and took the ball out of Jackson’s hands. Could that confidence come back in this game?
- Bucs’ short-range situations cause big problems. In the second half of the loss to Carolina, Tampa Bay faced five second-half plays on third or fourth down with 2 or fewer yards to gain. The Bucs converted one. This season, they’ve converted just 4 of 11 third and fourth downs with Leonard Fournette. Interestingly, they converted all four tries in those situations with rookie Rachaad White heading the ball. Will Leftwich stay with Fournette in these situations? Thursday could be an interesting test for that, but Leftwich has fairly consistently defended Fournette as not being the problem. Leftwich has apparently suggested the offensive line is at least part of the problem in these situations, and LG rookie Luke Goedeke was beaten on a couple of those plays last week where Fournette was stopped. If there’s a silver lining for Tampa, the Ravens haven’t been great in those situations defensively outside of the Bengals game.
- Can Lamar rediscover his primetime magic? This offseason sparked a ton of talk about Jackson’s unusual contract situation, and the common refrain was that he was betting on himself in his pursuit of a long-term extension. In three games, this goal seemed easily achievable. The last four games haven’t helped Jackson’s case, with his two late turnovers against the Giants particularly painful. We all know the gist: the Ravens need to sign the guy eventually, right? That might be true, but they could definitely use a vintage Lamar game in this one. The Bucs have faced dual-threat QBs this season, such as Patrick Mahomes, Dak Prescott and Marcus Mariota. But it will be a very tricky challenge without a full cast on hand. They could be without DB Antoine Winfield Jr., who has been a strong defense this season, and CBs Carlton Davis and Sean Murphy-Bunting.
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