The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will take their longest trip of the season in Week 15, jetting to Los Angeles to take on the Chargers at SoFi Stadium on Sunday, December 15. Kickoff will come at 1:25 p.m. local time, 4:25 p.m. back in Tampa. The 7-6 Buccaneers will be trying to extend a three-game winning streak and, in the process, make sure they remain ahead of the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC South. The 8-5 Chargers will be looking to solidify their hold on one of the AFC Wild Card spots.
The Buccaneers hopes to come out of their Week 11 bye on a hot streak have come to fruition so far and they are looking for another late-season run that has become common since their current streak of four straight playoff seasons (working on number five) started in 2020. Since that season, the Buccaneers are 19-5 in regular-season games played in December or January, with the second-most wins and the second-best winning percentage in the NFL behind the Buffalo Bills.
This weekend could present the greatest challenge on the Bucs' post-bye schedule. The three teams they have beaten have combined for seven wins this season, and the three teams on the other side of the West Coast trip all have losing records. The Chargers, meanwhile, have won five of their last seven, only falling to Baltimore and Kansas City, the latter on a last-second banked-in field goal last week.
Of course, the Buccaneers know how little wiggle room they have in their quest to stay ahead of Atlanta and win a fourth straight division title, so every game is equally meaningful. Or, more to the point, the one at hand is always the one that matters most.
"It's just the next one," said quarterback Baker Mayfield. "It's the most important one. Obviously, it's a good challenge for us just based on how they're playing right now. We have to bring our A-game but that's every Sunday."
The Chargers took a big swing in the offseason and were able to lure Jim Harbaugh away from Michigan and back to the NFL, and he has built on his reputation for being able to build a winner quickly. Los Angeles has taken on his rugged mentality as their approach to winning games.
"[They are] tough-minded," said Harbaugh's counterpart in Tampa, Todd Bowles. "Huge up front – both sides of the ball – they stop the run and run the ball. They do a very good job with time of possession. They can play action and hit you deep. The quarterback can do a lot of things. Their hallmark is they don't beat themselves. We've got to play clean football."
It didn't hurt Harbaugh's efforts that he inherited one of the NFL's best quarterbacks in fifth-year player Justin Herbert. Herbert has thrown only one interception this year but he has one of the NFL's strongest arms and can easily get the ball downfield. He's also willing to extend plays and take hits in order to make something happen when he is forced out of the pocket.
"He does a great job taking care of the football and understanding the offense," said Bowles. "If it's not there, he can use his legs; if it's there, he's got a cannon of an arm. He can zip it in. He trusts his receivers – they do a good job of mixing it up."
Meanwhile, an L.A. defense spearheaded by the pass-rush rotation of Khalil Mack, Tuli Tuipulotu, Joey Bosa and rookie Justin Eboigbe is allowing only 15.9 points per game, the fewest in the NFL. Safety Derwin James is the chess piece for Defensive Coordinator Jesse Minter, alternately lining up deep, in the slot or on the edge to rush the passer. The Chargers' defense is eighth against the pass, seventh in sack rate, sixth in interception rate and first in red zone touchdown efficiency.
"They play really, really hard," said Mayfield. "Obviously, they have great players. I think Derwin James is playing some of the best ball of his career right now. They're using him really well and obviously the guys up front – they have some stars up there. I think the secondary as a whole is playing really well, not letting a lot of things behind them. They're obviously coached well, they fly to the ball, keep things in front of them, fly and play for each other."
The Buccaneers, who are scoring 27.9 points per game, fifth-best in the NFL, may need to establish the ground game if they want to break through the Chargers' scoring cap. Tampa Bay has rushed for over 150 yards in each of its last three wins and are averaging 5.14 yards per tote, while the Chargers' defense ranks 22nd while allowing 4.58 yards per carry. Whatever the formula for success is, the Bucs hope to find it in Los Angeles on Sunday and move one step closer to a division title.
GAME AND BROADCAST DETAILS
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-6) at Los Angeles Chargers (8-5)
Sunday, December 15, 4:25 p.m. ET
SoFi Stadium (capacity: 71,599)
Inglewood, California
Television: Fox
TV Broadcast Team: Adam Amin (play-by-play), Mark Sanchez (analysts), Kristina Pink (reporter)
Radio: 98Rock (WXTB, 97.9 FM), Flagship Station
Radio Broadcast Team: Gene Deckerhoff (play-by-play), Dave Moore (analyst), T.J. Rives (reporter)
Spanish Radio: 96.1 Caliente
Spanish Radio Broadcast Team: Carlos Bohorquez (play-by-play), Martin Gramática (analyst), Santiago Gramática (reporter)
ALL-TIME HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Los Angeles Chargers will meet for the 13th time on Sunday, and if the series holds true to recent form it should be a high-scoring contest…for at least one of the two teams. The average score for the winning team in the series is 30.2 points, with the Buccaneers taking the last three contests by 34-24, 28-21 and 38-31 margins.
That three-game winning streak has allowed the Buccaneers to close the series gap a bit after the Chargers (long based in San Diego before their move to Los Angeles in 2017) won eight of the first nine. It's still an 8-4 series edge for the Chargers, largely built on a six-game winning streak from 1976, Tampa Bay's inaugural season, through. Tampa Bay's first win in the competition came in 1996 and is one of the more notable victories in franchise history.
The Buccaneers had a new head coach in '96, but Tony Dungy's team got off to an 0-5 start and were still only 2-8 upon taking the trip out to San Diego in Week 12. The night before the game, the Buccaneers' "Big Three" of defensive leaders – Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks and John Lynch – sat in their hotel room and watch an ESPN program call them "The Yuks." They vowed to change things for the franchise that night, and the next day they overcame an early 14-0 deficit to win 25-17, with Lynch providing a key interception. The 1996 Bucs won five of their last seven games, setting the stage for the franchise's long-awaited revival the next year.
The NFL's expansion to 32 teams and corresponding realignment in 2002 led to a new scheduling format that relied on rotating divisional matchups. For the Buccaneers and Chargers, that means only one meeting every four years, alternating between the two teams' home stadiums. That pattern actually got altered in 2008 and 2012, when the league switched the locations of some matchups to avoid teams having too many coast-to-coast flights in the same season. For that reason, the Bucs played host to the Chargers in both 2008 and 2012, losing the first one 41-24 but winning the second one 34-24. The Bucs won that 2012 contest by 10 points despite losing the yardage battle, 426-279, in part because Leonard Johnson returned an interception 83 yards for a touchdown.
The most recent meeting between the two teams was in 2020 in Tampa, and it was an early-season duel between two teams getting adjusted to new quarterbacks. The Buccaneers had made the most dramatic move possible in free agency, signing long-time Patriot Tom Brady, while the Chargers had used the sixth-overall pick in the 2020 draft on Oregon's Justin Herbert. Those two put on a show, combining for 659 passing yards and eight touchdown passes. Brady's side came out on top as he tossed five of those scoring passes, but not before the home team had to rally from a 24-7 second-quarter deficit.
Prior to that, the most recent game in California in the series came in 2016, the Chargers' last season in San Diego. It was an exciting game that saw three lead changes, a pick-six by Lavonte David, a big day from tight end Cameron Brate (six catches for 86 yards and a touchdown) and a game-sealing interception by Keith Tandy at the goal line with three minutes left. The Bucs held on for a 28-21 victory.
NOTABLE CONNECTIONS
Buccaneers kicker Chase McLaughlin got his first NFL regular season action with the Chargers in 2019. Originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the Bills, McLaughlin signed with the Chargers in October and subsequently got into four games. He made six of his nine field goal attempts and all seven PATs in that span.
Prior to joining the Buccaneers' player personnel staff in 2014, Director of Player Personnel Mike Biehl logged 13 seasons on the Chargers' staff (in San Diego), eventually ascending to assistant director of college scouting.
Tampa Bay Tight Ends Coach Justin Peelle was selected by the Chargers in the fourth round of the 2002 NFL Draft. He played the first four of his 10 NFL seasons in San Diego, recording 40 catches for 270 yards and four touchdowns.
Kevin Ross, the Buccaneers' cornerbacks coach, spent time with the Chargers as both a player and a coach. He played the 13th of his 14 playing seasons with San Diego in 1996, appearing in 16 games with two starts, contributing 78 tackles and two interceptions. He returned to the team 11 years later and spent two seasons as an assistant secondary/quality control coach.