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Tampa Bay Buccaneers

What's Next: Bucs Head to High Altitude for First Interconference Game

Having evened their record at 1-1 with a Week Two home win over Carolina, the Buccaneers will look to capture their first road victory of 2020 against Melvin Gordon and the Denver Broncos

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster (19) is tackled by Denver Broncos strong safety Kareem Jackson (22) and linebacker A.J. Johnson during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2020, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)
Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster (19) is tackled by Denver Broncos strong safety Kareem Jackson (22) and linebacker A.J. Johnson during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2020, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

Tom Brady got number 220 in the second week of 2020, and now he'll look for his 221st career regular-season win when he and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers head to Denver in Week Three.

After a season-opening loss at New Orleans, the Buccaneers evened their overall record and their intradivision record with a 31-17 downing of the Carolina Panthers Sunday at Raymond James Stadium. The Broncos, who are off to an 0-2 start after Sunday's 26-21 loss in Pittsburgh, represent the first of four AFC West opponents the Buccaneers will face in 2020.

The Buccaneers and Broncos are due to kick off at 4:25 p.m. on Sunday, September 27, and the game will be broadcast by FOX.

The Bucs know they are facing Vic Fangio's team in Week Three but it may be some time before they know which quarterback they'll be trying to defend. Second-year starter Drew Lock suffered an injury to his throwing shoulder in the first quarter of Sunday's game against the Steelers and did not return for the rest of the contest. He was replaced by Jeff Driskel, an offseason addition who completed 18 of 34 passes for 256 yards, two touchdowns an interception in his first action for the Broncos. Another offseason pickup, RB Melvin Gordon, is off to a good start in his new AFC West address, with 170 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns through two games.

Denver's defense will also be without it's best player, as outside linebacker Von Miller, may be sidelined for the entire season by an ankle injury.

The Buccaneers haven't played a game in Denver in eight years, which means it's been some time since they've deal with performing at the altitude accurately implied by Empower Field at Mile High. In fact, this will only be Tampa Bay's sixth game ever in Denver; they won one of the first five, in 1993.

Tampa Bay will try to start a winning streak behind a defense that forced four critical turnovers in Sunday's win and an offense that made clear progress from its first game under Brady's direction to its second. Brady was not sacked in the game and he threw for 217 yards to go with a ground game that produced another 122 yards.

In addition to a Jordan Whitehead interception that set up the game's first score and a Carlton Davis pick that seized the momentum back with 10 minutes to play, the Buccaneers' defense added five sacks of Panthers quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. Three of those five QB takedowns came from interior linemen Ndamukong Suh and Will Gholston as the men in the middle made Carolina pay for giving too much attention to edge rushers Shaq Barrett and Jason Pierre-Paul.

Speaking of Barrett, he'll be returning to his first NFL home, as he played four seasons in Denver before signing with the Buccaneers as an unrestricted free agent in 2019. After recording 14.0 sacks over those four seasons with the Broncos in a rotational role, Barrett got a chance to play regularly in Tampa and exploded with an NFL-high 19.5 sacks last year.

The Buccaneers hope to make it a happy homecoming for Barrett and get the Brady era above .500 for the first time.

View photos of Tampa Bay's Week 2 matchup against Carolina.

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