The Tampa Bay Buccaneers return home to Raymond James Stadium Sunday, following wins on a two-game road trip that bring them to a 6-6 record for the season. Todd Bowles' team staved off what could have been a dreadful trap game result against the Carolina Panthers last week and hope to continue avoiding those ills with their Week 14 opponent.
The Las Vegas Raiders will line up across the Bucs come kickoff, entering the contest at 2-10 and losers of eight straight. But as the Kansas City Chiefs experienced on Black Friday, this is no team to take lightly.
Looking to play spoiler, the Raiders will be the third AFC West opponent the Bucs have faced this season, already taking losses to the Chiefs and Denver Broncos. Tampa does enter this matchup as a considerable favorite with a number of advantages in hand.
But one Raider, in particular, will need extra attention from the Bucs' defense. Amid all of Las Vegas' struggles this year, tight end Brock Bowers has delivered better than anticipated and become a foundational franchise piece.
Bowers' success not only shines among his peers at the tight end position. He has made himself a top receiving threat among all position groups, sitting fourth in the NFL in receiving yards (884).
That mark is a decent figure ahead of the next best among tight ends, belonging to Trey McBride of the Arizona Cardinals (781).
"He's one of the best tight ends coming out in a long time," Bowles glowed. "He's living up to expectations... he can play wideout, he can play tight end. he can do some fullback, he can run jet sweeps.
"He's a very good route runner... but he can power you, he can finesse you... whatever the situation allows, he can get it done."
Though the Raiders quarterback position may not be one of the steady groups in the league, Bowers has consistently been a factor regardless of who has thrown him the ball.
For the Bucs, they will need better results this week from their secondary than they experienced against Carolina. Bryce Young threw for 298 yards and a score against Tampa Bay, connecting with tight end Tommy Tremble five times for 77 of those yards.
Overall though, this could be a good spot for Bowles' unit to reclaim some momentum against an offense that does struggle to match their opponent and score points. But handling Bowers will be crucial in the Bucs finding similar success.
