Buccaneers must exploit this huge Patriots weakness
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have gotten off to a great start, reaching 6-2 before the bye week to position themselves well for a second-half-of-the-season push towards the playoffs.
The Bucs have been resilient on their way to one of the league's best records at the midway point, but now have a grueling three-week stretch where they will face some of the NFL's top contenders.
Before facing off against the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Rams, Tampa Bay will host the surging New England Patriots under Mike Vrabel and Drake Maye in Week 10.
The Buccaneers will have their work cut out for them in this highly anticipated showdown, but there is one area they can exploit the Patriots: red zone scoring.
Bucs should look to exploit weak Patriots' red zone defense
Brett Davis-Imagn Images
The Buccaneers have had their struggles putting the ball into the endzone once they have found themselves inside the 20, but that has improved in recent weeks. While still not close to where they want to be when it comes to scoring touchdowns over field goals, the Bucs have a great chance to put together a solid game in that department against New England.
The Pats have been susceptible to opposing teams scoring inside the red zone, allowing teams to convert 75% of their trips inside the 20-yard line into touchdowns.
This would be a great spot for the Bucs to start punching the ball in the endzone, but they will likely have to do so without much of their offensive firepower.
Mike Evans has been lost for the rest of the regular season, Luke Goedeke's 21-day practice window has been opened for him to return from the IR (but with no clear return date) and it is still unknown when players like Bucky Irving, Chris Godwin and Jalen McMillan will make their returns.
The Bucs might not be at full strength entering this one, and will have to rely on the likes of Rachaad White, Emeka Egbuka, Sterling Shepard and Tez Johnson, but they have shown the ability to win games despite that, and could pick up a huge victory in the eyes of the national public and media to once again be talked about as Super Bowl contenders.
Better D-line health can keep Ryan Poles' restraint from backfiring
The additions might not be done for the Bears but the trading is.
Saying the efforts of GM Ryan Poles at this trading deadline didn't quite meet the expectations of Bears fans probably understates it a bit. Maybe they eventually sign cornerback Asante Samuel if he really is healthy, as he claims, but that's not going to help their pass rush and options to do this pretty much are now exhausted.
Fans had the social media torches and pitchforks out for the Bears GM after the only trade for the team was a sixth-rounder in exchange for Cleveland bench player Joe Tryon-Shoyinka, the former Tampa Bay first-round pick who hasn't come close to living up to his draft pedigree as last pick of Round 1 in 2021.
The 15 career sacks probably didn't quite light a fire under the fan base after all kinds of edge rush names had been floated around for several days. Maxx Crosby, Myles Garrett, Bradley Chubb. They needed a reality check if they seriously thought their team, with $7.8 million in salary cap space was going to trade for someone every competitor in the NFL wanted.
However, trading for someone a bit more on the tip of the tongue than somewhere down in the gullet definitely would have been more pleasing now. It could have been ill advised by next year because they still will be on the hook to Odeyingbo for about $22 million that they won't get back.
Just a fact…. Many players who were said to be available never really were unless some team stupidly way overpaid.
Several are criticizing Poles for not doing more. You can’t make a trade unless there is a trade to be made. It takes two. I’m sure if the right deal was there, he…— Greg Gabriel (@ggabefootball) November 4, 2025
One possibility from this quiet approach to the obvious need for defensive end bodies is that it could mean Dominique Robinson's ankle injury is not as serious as everyone pictured and they expect him back quickly in the mix.
Their alternatives until they do get Robinson back are using Gervon Dexter more off the edge than they have so far or using Daniel Hardy more. The latter might be better than the former if it means less time will be spent by Hardy on special teams, namely the hands team.
Dexter has been used outside or over tackle just on 38 downs this year but they played him there 144 times last season.
Perhaps the lack of a move merely looked worse than it was because Philadelphia's Howie Roseman went right after what he wanted and landed Jaelan Phillips and the Ravens landed a player in Dre'Mont Jones who seemed like a perfect Odeyingbo replacement and did it for only a fifth-round pick.
The Bears are not team creating great pressure on quarterbacks with their pass rush, off the edge or otherwise. Stathead/Pro Football Reference says they are 25th in rate of pressure at 17.3%. They're his low despite being middle of the pack, 17th overall, in blitz percentage.
Perhaps their answer will be to blitz more or more effectively, but they've lost a big chunk off the edge and haven't replaced it.
Nor did they address cornerback with a trade, although they definitely did it with the signing of C.J. Gardner-Johnson. It's just that, like with edge rusher, they've been hit hard with injuries and could have used one more while a big name like Sauce Gardner was dealt—albeit for a ridiculous price.
Of course some teams, probably too many, overreact to the trade deadline and Poles showed more restraint, but it was very easy to do considering the really big names were not really available and the next layer of edge players were then overpriced in terms of cap space but also because of the asking price in compensation. They weren't going to throw away first-rounders.
Restraint rarely wins applause. The Bears need to hope Poles' decision not to get too caught up in the league-wide momentum by making another Chase Claypool-type trade unnecessarily isn't turned into a poor one by even more immediate injuries on the defensive line.
The Bears are a young, building team and some of the trades out there for them would have derailed this with high compensation demands. They let Jerry Jones run around tossing first-round picks like they're loose change.
Usually their approach works, but it can come at a cost of maybe a win or two in a season when they seem to be on one of those wild rides through tight, miraculous wins.
Those extra players might prove to be the ones they needed to reach the playoffs with one or two more needed victories.
