- The Bucs will open their 2014 preseason in Jacksonville and later travel to Buffalo in Week Three
- Preseason home dates include a visit from Miami in Week Two and a capper against Washington in Week Four
- Specific dates and times for most of the NFL's preseason schedule have yet to be announced
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be heading upstate for their first game under new Head Coach Lovie Smith.
The NFL released the 2014 preseason week-by-week schedule on Wednesday, including the Buccaneers' four-game slate, which begins with a trip to Jacksonville to take on the Jaguars in Week One. Tampa Bay's two home games will be against the Miami Dolphins in Week Two and the Washington Redskins in Week Four, with an almost unprecedented trip to Buffalo sandwiched in between.
Specific dates and kickoff times will be announced in the coming weeks, along with the full 2014 regular-season schedule. The Bucs-Redskins matchup will definitely be on Thursday, August 28, as all Week Four preseason games will fall on that date. Preseason games during Weeks One-Three are most often played on Friday and Saturday evenings. The first game action for the new-look 2014 Buccaneers – with the debut of the team's new uniforms and a large group of players added to the roster during free agency and the upcoming draft – will fall between Thursday, August 7 and Sunday, August 10.
Here is another look at Tampa Bay's 2014 August schedule of games:
|
Week |
Opponent |
Date or Date Range |
|
Week One |
at Jacksonville |
Aug. 7-10 |
|
Week Two |
vs. Miami |
Aug. 14-18 |
|
Week Three |
at Buffalo |
Aug. 21-24 |
|
Week Four |
vs. Washington |
Aug. 28 |
Buffalo is a very uncommon summer destination for the Buccaneers. The Bucs and Bills have met three times previously in the preseason, but not since 1993. Tampa Bay's only preseason road game in Buffalo took place way back in 1977, when the league played a six-game warmup slate and the Bills home was still known as Rich Stadium. The Bucs have also only played in Buffalo once during the regular season, making their first trip to upstate New York in 2009. Tampa Bay is 1-2 all-time against the Bills in preseason play, having won a neutral-site game in Orlando's Citrus Bowl, 32-12, in 1993.
Preseason games against the Jaguars, Dolphins, Bills and Redskins will help the Bucs prepare fore the 2014 regular season
On the other hand, Miami and Jacksonville are customary preseason opponents for the Buccaneers, for the obvious reason of in-state proximity. The Dolphins, in fact, are Tampa Bay's most common summer foe by far, with a total of 28 previous meetings, a dozen more than the next team on the list, Atlanta. This year's game will mark the 15th straight year that the Bucs and Dolphins have done battle in the preseason. Miami leads the all-time series, 16-12, though Tampa Bay has won the last three.
Jacksonville, a 1995 expansion team, is newer to the in-state preseason round-robin, but the Bucs and Jaguars have still met nine teams. This year's game rekindles a summer rivalry that had been dormant for the past three years after nine consecutive years of preseason matchups. Jacksonville leads the series, 6-3, but the Buccaneers did come away with a win the last time they played in the Jaguars' home in August, a 24-23 decision in 2009. This will be the first time the Bucs have ever opened a preseason schedule against Jacksonville.
However, this marks the fourth straight season that the Buccaneers will wrap up their preseason action against the Redskins, and the second summer schedule in a row that ends at Raymond James Stadium. The Bucs have only had two different foes for their preseason finale for the last 13 years, with Washington's four-year run following a nine-year commitment to the Houston Texans. The Redskins haven't been a very hospitable replacement for the Texans, winning each of the last three preseason finales against the Buccaneers to take an 8-5 overall lead in the all-time series.
