![\"Buccaneers-Bills](\"https:\/\/news2.watchtowatch.top\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/26917111.jpg\")
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Josh Allen is the reigning NFL MVP, while Baker Mayfield was the No. 1 overall pick of their draft class.<\/p>\n
The two gems who entered the league in 2018 square off Sunday when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers battle the Buffalo Bills on Sunday afternoon in Orchard Park, N.Y.<\/p>\n
Allen was the seventh overall selection in a stellar class that included two-time MVP Lamar Jackson, who went No. 32 to the Baltimore Ravens.<\/p>\n
Mayfield fell out of favor with the Cleveland Browns after four seasons and bounced around to two other teams before reviving his career with the Buccaneers. This is his third season with Tampa Bay, where he has thrown 85 touchdown passes against 28 interceptions in 43 regular-season games.<\/p>\n
“I love the guy. He’s awesome,” Allen said of Mayfield on Wednesday. “To see kind of how his career has progressed and the adversity that he’s fought through, and playing some really, really dang good football right now.<\/p>\n
“I’m a big fan of his. Anytime I get to watch games, I’m watching what he does because he’s very fun to watch.”<\/p>\n
The two signal-callers have a strong friendship and get together for offseason golf outings.<\/p>\n
Mayfield said Allen’s 6-foot-5 height, four inches more than Mayfield’s, makes it hard to communicate with him.<\/p>\n
“I have to walkie-talkie to him because he’s so damn tall, so I can’t really have a face-to-face conversation with him,” Mayfield said, joking. “But in Buffalo, it’s cold, it’s rainy; even though he’s 6-10, his hands are small, so he better wear his gloves.”<\/p>\n
When Allen learned about Mayfield’s comments, he returned serve: “That’s crazy. Baker wears two gloves golfing. So, he’s that type of guy.”<\/p>\n
The two fierce competitors won’t be doing much joking during the game.<\/p>\n
Both teams are 6-3 and coming off losses. The Bills were whipped 30-13 by the lowly Miami Dolphins, while Tampa Bay was outclassed 28-23 by the New England Patriots.<\/p>\n
Buffalo has lost three of its last five games, and the offense isn’t clicking. On Monday, Bills coach Sean McDermott defended the performance of offensive coordinator Joe Brady.<\/p>\n
“Joe’s a good coach. He really is. We’ve got a really good offensive staff,” McDermott said. “They’ve had really good games. You’re going to have some games you want back, some play calls you want back.<\/p>\n
“It’s how you respond to them, and I’m fully confident in our offensive staff, and Joe as our leader, that we will make the adjustments we need to make and move us forward.”<\/p>\n
Allen has passed for 2,139 yards and 15 touchdowns against five interceptions, while James Cook ranks second in the NFL with 920 rushing yards. Cook and Allen have each run for seven scores.<\/p>\n
The Buccaneers have dropped two of their past three games and are just 3-3 after a 3-0 start.<\/p>\n
Mayfield has thrown for 2,192 yards and 16 touchdowns and has been intercepted just twice.<\/p>\n
Star rookie Emeka Egbuka has been a force with 40 catches for 677 yards and six touchdowns. He notched his third 100-yard outing of the season by catching six passes for 115 yards and a touchdown against New England.<\/p>\n
“Been amazing for me to experience and learn during my rookie year,” Egbuka said. “I welcome the challenge on the biggest stage in the National Football League; that is kind of what you want. You want to be able to test yourself against the best of the best and go against the best (defensive back).”<\/p>\n
Tampa Bay could get running back Bucky Irving (shoulder\/foot) back against the Bills. He has missed the past five games and was limited in Wednesday’s walk-through. Outside linebacker Haason Reddick (ankle\/knee) and guard Ben Bredeson (hamstring) sat out for the Buccaneers.<\/p>\n
Tight end Dalton Kincaid (hamstring) and defensive tackle Phidarian Mathis (shoulder) were out for the Bills.<\/p>\n
Allen passed for two scores and rushed for one as Buffalo defeated visiting Tampa Bay 24-18 in 2023. Mayfield tossed two touchdowns for the Buccaneers.<\/p>\n
It was a wild Wednesday on the ice at Benchmark International Arena. As the Lightning and Rangers got under way in the first period of the match, the two clubs combined to score seven goal in the first 15 shots of the game.<\/p>\n
The Rangers went back-to-back to take a quick 2-0 lead over Tampa Bay less than four minutes in. The first goal was a wrist shot on a power play by\u00a0Will Cuyelle\u00a0that was assisted by\u00a0Adam Fox\u00a0and\u00a0Artemi Panarin.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They then followed it up with a deflected shot by\u00a0J.T. Miller\u00a0that was assisted by\u00a0Mika Zibanejad.<\/p>\n
The Lightning then broke through in the second period! In his Tampa Bay Lightning debut the forward\u00a0Scott Sabourin\u00a0scored his first goal of his Lightning tenure and just the third of his NHL career. It was assisted by a pair of centers in\u00a0Curtis Douglas\u00a0and\u00a0Jack Finley, each with the first assist of their careers to make it a 2-1 Rangers lead.<\/p>\n
Just 7:08 into the period, the fourth goal of the game was scored by the Rangers, their third of the match. It was a wrist shot by\u00a0Alexis Lafreniere\u00a0to extend the Rangers\u2019 lead to 3-1. He was assisted by\u00a0Panarin\u00a0and\u00a0Carson Soucy.<\/p>\n
But then the Lightning once again struck back.\u00a0Zemgus Girgensons\u00a0sent his third goal of the season between the pipes to make it a 3-2 game. He was assisted by\u00a0Yanni Gourde\u00a0and\u00a0Oliver Bjordkstrand.<\/p>\n
Will Borgen\u00a0then struck again for the Rangers. It was an unassisted wrist shot that extended New York\u2019s lead to 4-2.<\/p>\n
But\u00a0Jake Guentzel\u00a0kept the chaos going. His backhand shot that was assisted by\u00a0J.J. Moser\u00a0made it 4-3.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s where the wild period ended as both sides went to the locker room to regroup for the second period.<\/p>\n
The second period was a much more defensive battle. Only one goal was scored in the period and it was by the Rangers.<\/p>\n
Vincent Trocheck\u00a0scored his first goal of the season to make it a 5-3 New York lead over Tampa Bay. His wrist shot was assisted by\u00a0Panarin\u00a0who had his third assist of the day, and\u00a0Vladislav Gavrikov.<\/p>\n
The lone goal of the period sent the game to a third and final period of regulation with the Rangers on top 5-3.<\/p>\n
As the third period got under way, six minutes in\u00a0Trocheck\u00a0scored his second goal of the season to extend New York\u2019s lead to 6-3 over Tampa Bay. He was assisted on the wrist shot by\u00a0Urho Vaakanainen\u00a0and\u00a0Paranin who was having a heck of a game on his fourth assist of the season.<\/p>\n
The Rangers then extended their lead over Tampa Bay even more late in the third as they took advantage of a power play goal to make it a 7-3 game.\u00a0Cuylle\u00a0had his second power play goal of the game. It was an unassisted wrist shot.<\/p>\n
That’s where this game ended as the Rangers went on to defeat the Lightning 7-3 at Benchmark International Arena despite being out-shot 34-21. But the Rangers were able to make the most of more of their shots as their goalie,\u00a0Igor Shesterkin\u00a0shut down the Lightning offense after the first period.<\/p>\n
The Tampa Bay Lightning will be back on the ice for perhaps their biggest matchup of the regular season this far on Saturday at 5:00PM EST when they take on the Florida Panthers down south in Sunrise, Florida.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Josh Allen is the reigning NFL MVP, while Baker Mayfield was the No. 1 overall pick of their draft class. The two gems who entered the league in 2018 square off Sunday…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4937,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hot-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t