When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were selected last December to represent the NFL in London this year, they were fighting for a playoff spot.
The team hasn't won a game since. And with a contest against the New England Patriots on tap at Wembley Stadium this Sunday, what was once a sense of honor in being selected to participate in the annual International Series has likely turned to dread.
When the NFL picked Tampa Bay, the designated home team for this game, and New England to square off in England back on December 1, the Buccaneers were 9-3 and in the thick of the playoff hunt. The club closed the season with four straight losses, however, including a seven-point setback to Oakland on the final weekend that cost the Bucs a postseason spot and led to the offseason firing of head coach Jon Gruden.
The Raheem Morris era hasn't gotten off to the best of starts either. Tampa Bay has lost its first six games under its new head coach for its worst start since 1985, when the franchise began 0-9.
Their 10-game losing streak dating back to last year is the Buccaneers' longest since they lost their first 26 games in team history, an 0-14 debut in 1976 that was followed by setbacks in their first 12 games of '77.
Tampa Bay is coming off one of its closest defeats of the season, a 28-21 setback to Carolina last Sunday. The game had been tied late before the Panthers put together a game-winning drive that lasted over eight minutes, with the deciding touchdown coming with just 29 seconds to go.
It would be hard to imagine the Bucs keeping it that close on Sunday. New England heads overseas fresh off one of the most dominating efforts in league history, as 59-0 thrashing of another winless team, the Tennessee Titans,
Quarterback Tom Brady matched a career high with six touchdown passes, including a NFL-record five in the second quarter alone. His performance helped New England tie the largest margin of victory in a game since the 1970 merger. The Patriots' 45-0 advantage by halftime was also an NFL record.
New England brings a 16-game regular-season winning streak versus the NFC into this contest. The Patriots, who beat the Falcons on September 27 in their lone previous NFC matchup this year, haven't lost to the conference since Week 2 of 2005 and are 29-4 in the regular season versus the NFC since 2001.
This Sunday's battle is the third straight season the NFL has played a game at London's Wembley Stadium. New Orleans defeated San Diego, 37-32, in London on October 26, 2008, one year after the New York Giants topped Miami, 13-10, on October 28, 2007.
SERIES HISTORY
The Patriots have a 4-2 edge in their all-time series with the Buccaneers, including a 28-0 home rout when the clubs last met, in 2005. Tampa Bay was a 21-16 road winner in the previous meeting, in 2000, and was a 27-7 victor when the teams last squared off in Florida, in 1997.
Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is 2-1 in his career against the Buccaneers, including 1-1 while with the Patriots. Morris will be meeting both Belichick and New England for the first time as a head coach.
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