Something has to give this Sunday when the Bucs host the Titans at Raymond James Stadium.

Tampa Bay has had a homefield disadvantage this season, going 1-3 over its first four home games. That 1-3 record includes three straight home losses to the Eagles, Lions and Falcons.

Meanwhile, Tennessee is 0-4 on the road this season. As Fox Sports’ Greg Auman pointed out Tuesday, the Titans are one of just three teams in the NFL without a road win this season. The Panthers (0-4) and Cardinals (0-5) are the only other teams without a victory away from home.

So, when the Bucs and Titans square off at 1:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, one of them will be shrugging off a troubling trend.

Sunday Will Be An Outlier For Both Bucs And Titans

Bucs RB Rachaad White – Photo by: USA Today

The Bucs’ lone home win in 2023 came against the 2-7 Bears, who were 0-1 at the time. Each of Tampa Bay’s home contests since then has come against a team with a record of .500 or better entering the game.

The Eagles (8-1) were 2-0 when they came to Ray-Jay, while the Lions (6-2) were 4-1 at the time of their game with the Bucs. The Falcons are 4-5 now after two straight losses, but even they were 3-3 heading into their Week 7 matchup with Todd Bowles and his team.

On Sunday, the 3-5 Titans will become just the second sub-.500 team to visit Tampa this season and the first since the Bucs’ 27-17 win over the Bears in Week 2.

Meanwhile, this game will also represent a shift in the trend for Tennessee. Mike Vrabel’s team is winless in four games on the road this season, but this week’s game against the 3-5 Bucs will be its first road contest against a sub-.500 team this year.

The Titans began this road losing streak in Week 1 against the Saints. Obviously, New Orleans was 0-0 at the time but is now 5-4. Tennessee’s other road losses were to Cleveland (1-1 at the time, 5-3 now), Indianapolis (2-2 at the time, 4-5 now) and Pittsburgh (4-3 at the time, 5-4 now).

They also lost away from home in Week 6 against the Ravens (3-2 at the time, 7-2 now), though that was in London and Tennessee was technically the road team.

So, come Sunday, the Bucs will either protect home field and advance to 2-3 on the year at Raymond James Stadium, or the Titans will pick up their first win away from Nissan Stadium on their sixth try.

Tampa Bay Will Be Looking To Reverse Another Trend In Week 10

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

Their poor performance streak at home isn’t the only negative trend that the Bucs will be looking to shed when the Titans come to town on Sunday.

Tampa Bay hasn’t had the best track record against rookie and/or backup quarterbacks in recent years under Todd Bowles, and last Sunday’s 39-37 loss in Houston was the latest example of that.

Texans rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud set an NFL record for passing yards by a rookie with 470, plus he had five touchdowns to go along with that record-breaking feat.

Stroud was the latest example, and Bowles’ defense will be looking to make sure there’s no repeat of that performance this week when it matches up against another rookie in Tennessee’s Will Levis.

The former Kentucky quarterback and 2023 second-round pick made his debut two weeks ago, throwing four touchdowns in a win over the Falcons. He was less effective in last week’s loss to the Steelers, but Titans head coach Mike Vrabel announced Tuesday that Levis will be the team’s starting quarterback going forward.

Levis is a quarterback who was linked to the Bucs at times during the pre-draft process, and now he’ll be in Tampa looking to replicate some of what Stroud did in Week 9. It’s up to Bowles and his defense to prevent that from happening and reverse the trend of rookie quarterbacks shredding them and handing them embarrassing losses.