This Week
The New England Patriots visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
The Patriots (2011) The Buccaneers (2011)
Overall 13-3 Overall 4-12
Road record 6-2 Home record 3-5
NFC South 0-0 AFC East 0-0
NFC Conf 3-1 AFC Conf 1-3
The Patriots are 1-1 and the Buccaneers are 1-1 in the preseason.
The Line/Prediction
As of Thursday the line on the game from Yahoo Sports has the Patriots at MINUS 6. The over under is 44.
My Prediction is Patriots 24, Buccaneers, 10. Give the points (Patriots) and take the under.
Tickets
Tickets to the game, if available, can be purchased through Ticketmaster. You can check the availability here.
Getting to the Game
If you’re lucky enough to be going to the game in Tampa Bay make sure you check out the links.
Here is the up to date weather forecast from the Weather Channel for Tampa FL.
Click for all the game day information including stadium directions, parking and stadium information, parking map and a Raymond James Stadium seating chart.
Tailgating
Here’s a bunch of different tailgating recipes from Tailgating.com. There’s something there for everyone and every type of meal or snack. I’ve tried some of the recipes and they’re very good.
And with tailgating many people enjoy some adult beverages. With that in mind check out Drink Nation for how to make all sorts of great drinks. You can look things up by name, ingredient(s) or theme.
Whether it’s at the game, a bar or a friend’s house moderation is always the key to a great time. Please don’t drink and drive and designate a sober driver. Remember You Drink, You Drive, You Lose.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Television
The Patriots Preseason Television Network is televising three of the Patriots four preseason games through out New England and Hawaii.
Longtime national play by play announcer Don Criqui and former NFL Pro Bowl offensive lineman Randy Cross will call the games.
Stations in the Patriots Preseason TV Network include:
- WBZ-TV Channel 4 in Boston MA
- WNAC-TV Channel 64 in Providence RI
- WMUR-TV Channel 9 in Manchester NH
- WMTW-TV Channel 8 in Portland ME
- WCTX-TV Channel 9 in Hartford/New Haven CT
- WWLP-TV Channel 22 in Springfield MA
- WVII-TV Channel 7 or WFVX-TV Channel 22 in Bangor ME
- WVNY-TV Channel 22 in Burlington VT
- KFVE-TV Channel 5 in Honolulu HI
Check your local listings for your station.
DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket is not allowed to carry preseason games per the NFL Broadcast Rules.
Preseason television rights belong to the teams and not to the league, hence no DirecTV NFL Sunday Ticket until Week 1 of the regular season.
Radio
The Patriots Radio Network broadcasts the game from flagship station WBZ-FM, 98.5 the Sports Hub in Boston. Gil Santos handles the play-by-play, former Patriot Scott Zolak does the color. It all starts with Gary Tanguay and Andy Gresh with the pregame show at 4:30 p.m. along the network. The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours along the network.
The Patriots radio network call is available on Sirius Channel 85 and on SiriusXM Internet Channel 818.
To continue reading the New England Patriots @ Tampa Bay Buccanneers preseason week 3 preview, please click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.
Last Week
The Patriots lost at home to the Eagles, 27-17. The Bucs lost at home to the Titans, 30-7.
History
- This is the 10th preseason meeting between the two teams.
- The Buccaneers lead the preseason series 7-2.
- This is the second consecutive season the teams have met in Tampa during the preseason.
- The Patriots beat the Buccaneers 31-14 last preseason in Week 2 in Tampa.
- Nine of the ten meetings have been played in Tampa Bay
Game Notes
The two teams held joint practice sessions in Tampa Bay on Wednesday and Thursday.
Last year the Patriots were third in points scored while the Bucs were 27th.
In 2011, the Patriots were 15th in points allowed per game, while the Bucs were 32nd.
The Patriots were 3rd in takeaway/giveaways at PLUS 17 while the Buccaneers were 32nd at MINUS 16.
Tampa Bay QB Dan Orlovsky is a UConn alum and a Shelton CT native.
Tampa Bay C Moe Pietrus played at UConn for four seasons and started a school record 52 consecutive games.
Patriots rookie OL Jeremiah Warren is a native of Panama City FL and played at USF.
Tampa Bay WR Tiquan Underwood was a Patriot in 2011 and C/G Ted Larsen was drafted by New England in the 6th round of the 2010 NFL Draft.
Bucs defensive front seven coach Bryan Cox was a member of the Patriots that won Super Bowls XXXVI.
Tampa Bay senior offensive assistant Jimmy Raye was the Patriots offensive coordinator in 1990.
Tampa Bay defensive line coach Randy Melvin had a similar position with the Patriots in 2000 and 2001.
Patriots CB Kyle Arrington was once on the Tampa Bay practice squad for 14 weeks in 2008 and played one game for them in 2009.
Patriots TE Daniel Fells was once on the Bucs practice squad in 2008.
Steven Belichick, a Patriots assistant and son of Bill, played football last year at Rutgers for Tampa Bay head coach Greg Schiano.
Next Week
The Patriots visit the New York Giants Tuesday at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford NJ. Kick off is at 7:30 p.m. on the Patriots Television Network.
Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII
