A rainy day in London may lead to a long Sunday for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Bucs were supposed to practice at Wembley Stadium on Saturday afternoon, but the session has been canceled due to inclement weather. Rick Stroud of the St. Petersburg Times believes the team will have a walkthrough at their hotel, but the Bucs are going to be heading into this week’s game with limited preparation.
The team only practiced Wednesday and Thursday of this week and travelled during the day on Friday. The Patriots, on the other hand, practiced three days at home and then had a workout shortly after arriving on an overnight flight on Thursday night. Buccaneers center Jeff Faine admitted that the disparity leaves the Bucs at a disadvantage.
“I definitely think it’s an advantage for them,” said Faine. “It’s unfortunate that’s the way it worked out, but any time you’re able to prepare an extra day that’s something we can’t catch up on. We just have to hope we can catch up mentally and be ready on Sunday.”
The talent gap between the two teams already made a Buccaneers victory unlikely. Throwing in jet lag and minimal time on the practice field makes you wonder if we could be in store for a repeat of last week’s 59-point Patriot explosion.