With a merciless stretch of the schedule concluded and a bye week to freshen up, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers go on the road Sunday and will attempt to end a four-game losing streak against a New York Giants team either in transition or a freefall.
Tampa Bay (4-6) was two games over .500 and challenging for the NFC South lead a month ago before falling in succession against Baltimore (41-31), Atlanta (31-26), Kansas City (30-24 in overtime) and San Francisco (23-20).
The Giants (2-8) have lost five in a row and are also coming off a bye.
Quarterback Tommy DeVito will make his first start of the season and seventh of his two-year career after the Giants announced the benching of Daniel Jones this week after an overtime loss to the woeful Panthers.
“Tommy Cutlets” has a career passer rating of 89.2, with eight touchdowns and three interceptions. The 2023 undrafted free agent is 3-3 as a starter.
“Those are never easy conversations,” Giants coach Brian Daboll said. “[I’ve] got a lot of respect for all three of those guys. After evaluating a bunch of things and looking at a lot of tape and being around Tommy last year where he created a little bit of a spark for us, that’s the reason why we’re going with Tommy.”
DeVito had been the third-string quarterback but Daboll chose him over backup Drew Lock.
Tampa Bay’s potent offense figures to heap even more pressure on DeVito and running back Tyrone Tracy, who has 545 yards and three rushing touchdowns as the Giants’ only viable option.
Rookie Malik Nabers (607 receiving yards, 3 touchdowns) and Darius Slayton (469, 1) could provide inviting targets for DeVito against a Bucs pass defense that has allowed 20 aerial scores this season, which ranks fifth worst in the NFL.
The Giants, meanwhile, have excelled in red-zone defense and rank second in sacks (36).
Tampa Bay (4-6) is the only team in the NFL to pass for more than 300 yards and rush for 100 more on four different occasions. The Bucs, led by a committee of Bucky Irving (492 yards, four touchdowns), Rachaad White (306; 1) and Sean Tucker (186; 1) have rushed for more than 100 yards seven times.
Bucs quarterback Baker Mayfield has been an offensive dynamo. Fourth among Bucs rushers with 192 yards and two scores, he’s third in the NFL in touchdown passes (24), total touchdowns (26) and fifth in passer rating (103.6).
Mayfield could get back a key contributor on Sunday. Wide receiver Mike Evans, who went down with a hamstring injury in Week 7, returned to practice on Wednesday. Evans had 335 yards and six receiving touchdowns before the injury.
Slayton was a full participant on Wednesday as he recovers from a concussion. The wide receiver left the Giants’ Week 9 loss to the Commanders and wasn’t able to gain clearance to travel to the Giants’ Week 10 loss in Germany to the Panthers.
Bucs cornerback Zyon McCollum, who departed the 49ers loss with a hamstring injury, did not practice on Wednesday.
All-Pro left tackle Tristin Wirfs, who sprained an MCL in the loss to the 49ers, worked on the sideline with trainers.
Bucs coach Todd Bowles said it is “going to be close” for both players to play on Sunday.
Giants outside linebacker Kayvon Thibodeaux (wrist) was a limited participant on Wednesday.
