While the quality of play on Thursday Night Football leaves a lot to be desired, Amazon Prime has to be happy with its ratings. More viewers have tuned in to Thursday night games every week in comparison to the previous year's accompanying matchup, which is due in part to a concerted effort from the NFL to spread the wealth and give Amazon a better schedule.
There have been plenty of contending teams getting the Thursday night stage in the early going. Two more are slated to face off in Week 8 and each team is looking to bounce back from a tough loss.
Who is playing on Thursday Night Football in Week 8?
This week's Thursday night matchup features the 3-3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers traveling to Orchard Park to take on the 4-3 Buffalo Bills. Week 7 was a tough one for both teams, who each suffered defeats in the final minute of their respective games.
Tampa Bay struggled to generate much offense before falling 16-13 to the Atlanta Falcons on a late field goal from Younghoe Koo. Baker Mayfield moved the Buccaneers pretty well between the 20s, completing 27-of-42 passes for 275 yards and a touchdown, but there simply weren't enough big plays to secure a winnable game.
The alarm level is much higher in Buffalo as the Bills followed up a sloppy win over the New York Giants by losing to the New England Patriots, who entered the week 1-5 and looking completely inept offensively. Buffalo dug themselves an early 10-point hole and rallied for a late lead with 15 unanswered points in the fourth quarter only to watch Mac Jones lead a game-winning touchdown drive capped off by a 1-yard strike to Mike Gesicki with 12 seconds left on the clock.
These teams last met in December of 2021, with Tampa Bay winning a 33-27 overtime thriller. Tom Brady was the Buccaneers' quarterback in that game, however, so we'll see if Mayfield can go toe-to-toe with Allen in Buffalo.
