Buccaneers will play Bills in preseason despite regular-season matchup

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will face a fun schedule quirk this year in preseason.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield gets rid of the ball while pressured by Buffalo Bills. | Jamie Germano/Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK

Know your enemy, as the saying goes — and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers may get to do a little bit of that in the preseason this year.

Ever since the NFL cut down the preseason to three games, NFL teams typically alternate between playing two away games and two home games in the preseason every year. This year, the Bucs will host two preseason games at home and one on the road, playing the Tennessee Titans and Buffalo Bills at Raymond James Stadium and then travelling to face off against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

There's one interesting quirk here, though. The Buccaneers and the Bills will play in the regular season in Week 11, so they'll face off against each other in the preseason as a bit of a warmup before that happens.

The Buccaneers announce they’ll play the Tennessee Titans at home, the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road and the Buffalo Bills at home for preseason.

Interestingly enough, the Bucs will then play the Bills in the regular season as well.
— River Wells (@riverhwells) May 16, 2025

The last time this happened to the Buccaneers was in 2014, when the Bucs played the Washington Redskins in the last game of the preseason before facing off against them in Week 11 of the regular season — the exact same format that is happening with this schedule quirk. That was one of just two games the Buccaneers won that year, and the Bucs will look to get a Week 11 victory again this year against the reigning MVP, Josh Allen, and his squad.

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