The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have a very good chance of beating the New England Patriots in Tampa this week, but it will all come down to the adjustments that need to be made in New England. It is not just the defense that is a problem in New England. Their offense does not stay on the field long enough, and that could cause problems for their flailing defense. Tampa can take advantage of this, and they will tire out the Patriots if they execute their game plan in the right way.
The Bucs offense and Doug Martin
Tampa can let the offense drag down the field with Doug Martin running the ball quite a lot during the game. The New England defense would be on the field so much that they would be dead tired, and they would not have the energy to implement any adjustments they want to make. The problem with the New England defense is in defending the pass, and they will get run into the ground with their defensive backs running all over the field on decoy routes all day.
The Patriots need time to adjust
The Patriots need time to adjust their defense because they are so bad, and the adjustments that they end up making will be so big that they might not see the results for a couple of weeks.
They are playing to make the playoffs, and they might need to give up the dream of having the highest seed in the AFC. Getting run all over the field by the Tampa offense will leave them deflated, and a coach like Bill Belichick will simply ride them until they get better. However, they have not had problems like this for years, and they might not respond well to adversity.
Tampa's offensive scheme
It is possible to make an argument that Tampa head coach Dirk Koetter is a better offensive mind than anyone working for the Patriots. Sadly, Tom Brady cannot change the scheme of the Patriots offense during the game, but Koetter can alter his scheme if he wants. The Bucs will continually adjust to whatever the Patriots figure out, and the Patriots offense will not have enough time to make up ground in a game in which they could be trailing early.
The game is in Tampa
New England plays much better at home than they do on the road, and going on the road on a short week will make it that much worse for them. The Patriots could find themselves in an unfamiliar place, with a bad defense, and unable to adjust to their opponent. If the Patriots take two losses in a row, they will need to seriously consider what to do about their defense, which would include trading pieces to get better players. This is reason to panic.