With the long absence of James White, the New England Patriots’ offence has suffered a setback before the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with Tom Brady. However, there are points that still give hope for a close game.

Munich – The New England Patriots face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and former quarterback Tom Brady in the explosive Sunday Night Game (in the live ticker on ran.de). It’s hard to say which team is more motivated. The Patriots, who have lost their GOAT, or Brady, who wants to give Belichick and Co. another thrashing.

The Bucs are the clear favourites, that’s for sure. Despite their first loss of the season against the Los Angeles Rams, the reigning champions are much more broadly based. In addition, the Pats will have to do without running back James White due to a hip injury.

So it could get even tougher for the rookie quarterback Mac Jones and his offence against a fearsome Bucs defence without a reliable run game.

New England Patriots: Mac Jones regrets White failure

“He knows what all 11 players on the field do,” Mac Jones said of the 29-year-old’s absence. “He’s experienced, he’s earned the confidence. It will be a great shame not to have him but he’s a great player and we want to perform for him and be like him: smart, tough and reliable.”

In White’s place, the burden will have to be carried by Damien Harris, Brandon Bolden, Rhamondre Stevenson and J.J. Taylor. All four backs haven’t pulled up any trees this season, though, with Bolden still getting the most confidence with 46 percent offensive snaps in Week 3.

Against the Bucs, the workload should be a little more distributed among the backups, and perhaps one of them can play his way to the forefront – though it might be tough to get into the right rhythm that way.

New England Patriots: O-line hopeful could play again

So as difficult as the conditions are ahead of the clash against the NFL champions, there are reasons to be hopeful.

Tackle Trent Brown could be back in the fold, with arguably the most important O-lineman having suffered an injury in Week 1 against the Miami Dolphins. While he is not yet able to practice fully with the team, he has already narrowly missed a Week 3 appearance.

Mac Jones has shown he is capable of making the right decisions when the pressure is on. Trent Brown could be a big help in that regard, because while the Bucs defense appears so dangerous, it’s fallen short of expectations this season.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers: pass rush disappointing so far

No other NFL team has collected fewer sacks so far (3) and Suh, Pierre-Paul and Co. are also only in the league’s wide midfield in allowed passer rating. Maybe Mac Jones will get the time he needs to drive his offense down the field.

After all, he has earned the respect he deserves from his opponent. “I was a big fan of his in the draft,” Bucs coach Bruce Arians said before the game. “He’s a smart pocket player who distributes the ball quickly and accurately. He’s played in big games with Alabama and led his team to a championship,” he elaborated.

Those may be standard NFL coaches’ pregame phrases – Belichick is a master at them, by the way – but Arians’ respect is no accident. After all, the Bucs’ secondary has some question marks that a quarterback like Jones exploits on a good day.

Cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting has elbow trouble and has been placed on the IR list, and backup Jamel Dean has a knee injury. Although general manager Jason Licht has provided a famous replacement in Richard Sherman, whether Sherman will be ready to go against the Patriots can be doubted.

Buccaneers at Patriots: Tom Brady makes announcement

Patriots fans can have hope for a close game. Now the defence just has to do its job against quarterback Tom Brady. He has already made a clear announcement to his old environment.

“I have a lot of great friends there, but they know I want to kick their butts,” the GOAT stressed at the press conference.

Improved O-Line, disappointing pass rush and disjointed secondary by the Bucs and a big mouth from Tom Brady.

Maybe all is not looking so bad for the Patriots against the champs after all.