Tampa Bay opened the season with a loss for the first time since head coach Todd Bowles took over, but heading into Week 2 the Buccaneers (0-1) have the opportunity to right the ship quickly with a home game against the struggling Cleveland Browns (0-1) on Sunday.

Although the Buccaneers lost to the Cincinnati Bengals (1-0) by less than a touchdown and scored 27 points, Tampa Bay was ultimately doomed by four lost fumbles—including three from quarterback Baker Mayfield. The Browns are coming off their third consecutive season-opening loss after being drubbed on the road by the Jacksonville Jaguars (1-0) 34-10.

Historically, only 10-12 percent of teams that start the season 0-2 go on to advance to the NFL Playoffs. 

Under Bowles, the Buccaneers have never started a season with two straight losses. The last time Tampa Bay started a season 0-2 was 2014 under former head coach Lovie Smith. The Bucs wouldn’t notch their first win until Week 4 and then went on to finish the season with an overall record of 2-14. 

While Tampa Bay is coming off its first season-opening loss since 2020, the Bucs have won their last three home-openers. Since 2022, Tampa Bay is 3-1 in its first home game of the season with the only loss coming in Bowles’ first year as head coach in a 14-12 loss to the Green Bay Packers.

Prior to last season the Browns had not started a season 0-2 since 2017. This season, they are looking to avoid starting 0-2 for the second consecutive season. Cleveland managed just two road wins last year.

Mayfield’s history with the Browns has been well documented after being drafted by the team as the No. 1 overall in the 2018 draft, but he downplayed any talk of revenge against his former team earlier in the week.

"I think anytime there's history between a franchise, coaching staff, anybody, there's always … you want to come out on the winning side no matter what," Mayfield said. "Obviously, it's very different there, staff-wise and everybody, but yeah, I spent four years there. I'm going into Year Four here. I started my career there, a lot of ups and downs. For me, this week is (about) doing the little things right, continuing to just try and place the ball where it needs to go and obviously making the corrections I need to, ball security.”

Mayfield has only played against the Browns once since leaving Cleveland—a 26-24 loss as a member of the Los Angeles Rams in 2022. In his four seasons, Mayfield was 29-30 as a starter, completing 61.6 percent of his passes for 14,125 yards, 92 touchdowns and 56 interceptions.

Entering his fourth season with Tampa Bay, Mayfield is 27-25 as a starter has thrown for 12,453 yards, completed 66.6 percent of his passes and has 95 passing touchdowns to 37 interceptions. Since Mayfield left the Browns, 10 different Cleveland quarterbacks have combined for 13,655 yards, 79 touchdowns and 77 interceptions. 

Bowles will also be looking for a little revenge against the Browns on Sunday. After getting a 31-10 win against Cleveland in his debut as the head coach of the New York Jets in 2015, Bowles has lost his last two meetings with the Jets, including a 23-17 road loss in 2022 as the head coach of the Bucs. 

The Browns managed just 272 total yards of offense, went 1-of-8 on third down and had two turnovers against the Jaguars, but Bowles said his defense will have to play disciplined against head coach Todd Monken’s offense.

"It's a big challenge because they do a lot of different things as far as running and throwing the ball,” Bowles said. “When you have a running quarterback, that gives you that extra added dimension. You can rush exactly the proper way and still get outrun because of his speed and his athleticism. We've got to be very disciplined in our pass-rush lanes, and we've got to stop the run. They've got a bunch of weapons over there." 

Quarterback Deshaun Watson completed 72 percent of his passes last week, but threw for just 205 yards, and had a touchdown and an interception. Watson also led the team in rushing with 38 yards on the ground.

The Browns lead the all-time series 7-4 and the last two meetings have ended in overtime. Kickoff at Raymond James Stadium is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET with Tampa Bay as an 8.5-point favorite. The point total for the game is 41.5.