The Bucs are about halfway through their 2023 schedule and find themselves headed in the wrong direction. Since hitting their early bye week at 3-1, they’ve lost four straight games and sit in third place in the NFC South at 3-5. Todd Bowles’ proclamation that Tampa Bay’s losses wouldn’t “snowball” has aged horribly, and his team badly needs to stop the bleeding in Week 10 as they host the 3-5 Titans.

Because of how bad the NFC South is, the Bucs’ four-game losing streak hasn’t killed their chances of three-peating as division champions. They’re only 1.5 games behind the Saints with nine to play, plus they have that Week 4 win over New Orleans in their back pocket. And because of how average the NFC is as a whole, Tampa Bay is also just 1.5 games out of a playoff spot.

So, all hasn’t been lost for Bowles and the Bucs. They very well could turn things around and get themselves back in the mix for the NFC South or an NFC Wild Card spot. That turnaround has to begin on Sunday. Otherwise, Tampa Bay would fall to 3-6 and be staring 3-7 right in the face with a trip to San Francisco looming in Week 11.

The Last Time…

Bucs QB Jameis Winston – Photo by: Mary Holt/PR

The Bucs and Titans last met in Week 8 of the 2019 season, with Tennessee forcing four Jameis Winston turnovers in a 27-23 win at Nissan Stadium. Tampa Bay actually took a 23-17 lead early in the third quarter on a touchdown pass from Winston to Mike Evans, but after the Titans eventually took a 27-23 lead, things unraveled. The final three drives of the game for the Bucs went Winston fumble, turnover on downs and Winston interception.

Even with all of that, Tampa Bay arguably should’ve won the game if not for the officials blowing the whistle early when Devin White forced a fumble on the Titans’ fake field goal attempt with 3:47 to go. Andrew Adams recovered the fumble and returned it for what would’ve been a go-ahead touchdown, but the officials had blown the play dead and ruled that Tennessee punter Brett Kern was down by contact short of the first-down marker.

“That’s gonna be a no for me, dawg” – Devin, probably#GoBucs | #TBvsTEN pic.twitter.com/G87WG0I92Y

— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) October 27, 2019

The last meeting at Raymond James Stadium was one that the Buccaneer faithful would probably like to forget, with the Titans winning 42-14 in a game that saw their No. 2 overall pick — Marcus Mariota — dominate with four touchdowns while the Bucs’ No. 1 pick — Jameis Winston — threw a pick-six on his first career pass attempt on his way to a two-interception day.

The Titans lead the all-time series 10-2 over the Bucs, though the teams are tied at 2-2 in Tampa.

How The Bucs And Titans Are Trending

The Bucs are obviously trending in the wrong direction, having just lost their fourth straight game. Not only did they lose their fourth in a row, but they did so in ridiculous fashion.

Tampa Bay’s offense actually came to life and lit up the scoreboard to the tune of 37 points, but the defense was absolutely awful on its way to allowing Texans rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud put up a record-breaking performance with 470 yards and five touchdowns. After the Bucs took a 37-33 lead with 46 seconds to go, Houston marched right down the field and scored to win the game.

Bucs HC Todd Bowles – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Tampa Bay hasn’t won a game since Oct. 1 and while the offense finally started scoring points last Sunday thanks in large part to two-touchdown days by Rachaad White and Cade Otton, the defense turned in its worst performance of the season and looks completely incapable of stopping anyone through the air. Now, Todd Bowles and his defense will be tasked with making sure another rookie quarterback – Tennessee’s Will Levis – doesn’t find a way to torch them the way Stroud did in Week 9.

The Titans find themselves at a bit of a crossroads as well, having lost three of their last four games after starting a respectable 2-2 with wins over the Chargers and Bengals. Levis is set to make his third career start after tossing four touchdowns in his debut against the Falcons two weeks ago and struggling a bit more in a Thursday night loss to the Steelers last week.

Given the rise of the Jaguars in the AFC South, Tennessee doesn’t really have a path back to the top of the division. And with the AFC Wild Card picture full of much better teams than the NFC Wild Card picture, Mike Vrabel and his team are likely set to miss the playoffs for the second straight season. So, it makes sense that Vrabel has turned to Levis – the team’s second-round pick in the 2023 Draft – over veteran Ryan Tannehill going forward. The Titans have their eye on the future, though they’ll certainly still threaten to send the Bucs to a fifth straight loss come Sunday.

Tampa Bay is 1-3 at home this season while Tennessee is 0-4 on the road (and with a loss in London, 0-5 away from home). With that in mind, something has to give on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium.

Here’s how the Bucs and Titans stack up heading into Week 10:

Bucs Offense: 22nd in scoring offense (19.8 PPG), 21st in total offense (302.5 yards per game), 15th in passing offense (224.3 yards per game), 30th in rushing offense (78.3 yards per game)

Titans Offense: 24th in scoring offense (18.5 PPG), 23rd in total offense (302.0 yards per game), 26th in passing offense (187.5 yards per game), 12th in rushing offense (114.5 yards per game)

Bucs Defense: 16th in scoring defense (20.9 points allowed per game), 29th in total defense (372.3 yards allowed per game), 31st in passing defense (279.4 yards allowed per game), 9th in rushing defense (92.9 yards allowed per game)

Titans Defense: 11th in scoring defense (20.0 points allowed per game), 20th in total defense (337.8 yards allowed per game), 16th in passing defense (223.0 yards allowed per game), 19th in rushing defense (114.8 yards allowed per game)

As of Wednesday night, the game was listed as a Pick’em with an Over/Under set at 38.5 points (per MyBookie.ag).

What Might Decide This Bucs-Titans Matchup?

Bucs CB Carlton Davis III and Texans TE Dalton Shultz – Photo by: USA Today

This is a big week for the Bucs defense because if it bounces back from its awful showing in Houston, it’ll set the tone for the whole team to start turning things around. If issues persist, though, it could send things spiraling out of control. Tampa Bay needs more from its four-man rush. The experienced players in the secondary – led by Carlton Davis – need to play better in coverage, even when the scheme isn’t playing to their strengths. The unit needs to get back to forcing turnovers the way it was early on in the season.

And perhaps most importantly, Todd Bowles needs to put his defense in the right positions to compete. Given the secondary’s struggles in zone coverage, playing more man coverage might be a start. Blitzing more to manufacture some pressure and help out the four-man rush could help, too. A lot of this game is going to come down to the game plan Bowles has in place. He’s been badly outcoached in the last couple of weeks, making the days leading up to Sunday’s game just as important as Sunday itself.

Offensively, Tampa Bay needs to build on Week 9. Things certainly weren’t perfect and there were stretches of the game when Baker Mayfield and the rest of the group went silent, but 37 points is 37 points. It helped that Rachaad White and Cade Otton both found the end zone twice, but as Dave Canales looks to get his side of the ball to stack good performances, finding ways to get the ball to Mike Evans and Chris Godwin – the two best playmakers on the offense – has to be a priority. If the offense keeps scoring points and the defense bounces back, the Bucs might finally be able to snap their losing streak.

Titans QB Will Levis – Photo by: USA Today

For the Titans, the key might be getting the ground game going to help Will Levis. Levis did throw four touchdowns in his debut two weeks ago and has a cannon for an arm, but he’s still a rookie with some work to do. The fact that he has three-time Pro Bowler and four-time 1,000-yard rusher Derrick Henry – as well as electric rookie Tyjae Spears – in the backfield should help him. But it only helps him if Henry and Spears are making things happen in the run game.

In Levis’ dazzling debut against the Falcons, Henry ran for 101 yards on 22 carries (4.6 avg.) and Spears ran for 27 yards on three carries (9.0 avg.). But last week, the rookie quarterback from Kentucky struggled against the Steelers and Henry was held under 100 yards. If the backfield duo is able to find room to run against a solid Bucs run defense, it’ll open things up for Levis and his receivers – led by five-time Pro Bowler and six-time 1,000-yard receiver DeAndre Hopkins.

For the Tennessee defense, forcing more turnovers would be a big help as it looks to impede the progress of Tampa Bay’s still-developing offense. The Titans only have two interceptions and four fumble recoveries this year. Their six total takeaways ranks them dead last in the NFL. Former Buc Sean Murphy-Bunting accounting for one of the interceptions and one of the fumble recoveries in addition to forcing two fumbles, but the splash plays for the defense as a whole have been few and far between. Mike Vrabel’s team has a minus-3 turnover differential, which is 22nd in the NFL. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay has a plus-eight differential, tying for the second-best mark in the league.

Key Players to Watch

Bucs RB Rachaad White – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Dave Canales leaning into Rachaad White‘s skill set as a pass-catcher has been huge. Getting White in space has helped the Bucs move the ball, and the second-year running back’s production has jumped up as well. He had 99 total yards three weeks ago before posting 109 and 119 total yards in the last two games, respectively. If Tampa Bay can get him going again against the Titans while also feeding the ball to Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, that could spell good things as far as the scoreboard goes.

Calijah Kancey has continued to impress since his return from the calf injury that sidelined him for most of training camp, all of the preseason and the first portion of the regular season. He has two sacks and 14 pressures in just four games (plus 11 snaps), and those 14 pressures have him behind only Joe Tryon-Shoyinka (15), Vita Vea (15) and Shaq Barrett (24) on the Tampa Bay defense this year. Kancey will have a chance to feast on Sunday when he faces an offensive line that has allowed 29 sacks and 121 pressures this season.

Titans QB Will Levis – Photo by: USA Today

All eyes will be on Will Levis on Sunday, as he’s making career start No. 3 and he’s doing so against a defense that just allowed 470 yards and five touchdowns to another rookie quarterback last week. Whether Levis can establish himself as the Titans’ quarterback of the future will be a big question in Nashville for the rest of what appears to be a lost season, so each week will be important for the former Kentucky Wildcat. Having DeAndre Hopkins (35 catches for 564 yards and three touchdowns this year) and Derrick Henry (137 carries for 601 yards and four scores) should help.

Jeffery Simmons is the anchor of the Titans’ defensive line and has been for several years now. He’s going to be dangerous for Robert Hainsey, Cody Mauch and Aaron Stinnie to handle, as he has 4.5 sacks and 33 pressures this season. Simmons is quick and strong, and he has the potential to become a big problem for the Tampa Bay offense on Sunday.

Bucs vs. Titans Game Information

When: Sunday, November 12
Where: Raymond James Stadium (Tampa, FL)
Kickoff: 1:00 p.m. ET
TV: CBS – Andrew Catalon (Play by Play), Tiki Barber & Matt Ryan (Analysts), A.J. Ross (Reporter)
Bucs Radio: 98Rock – Gene Deckerhoff (Play by Play), Dave Moore (Color), T.J. Rives (Reporter)
Spanish Radio: 96.1 Caliente – Carlos Bohorquez (Play by Play), Martín Gramática (Analyst)