Week 8 of the 2022 NFL season kicks off in Tampa Bay, as the Baltimore Ravens take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in prime time on Thursday Night Football.
While both squads were once considered among the league’s Super Bowl favorites, the tides have changed since preseason predictions. Here’s how to watch the NFL game today, including start times, channels, and live stream options.
NFL Games Today | Thursday, Week 8
This week’s Thursday Night Football game is the seventh of 15 matchups being showcased on Amazon Prime this season. This is the first season of the tech giant’s decade-long mega-deal after acquiring the rights to TNF over the past offseason.
While the game is only available nationally through Amazon Prime, there are other ways to watch the game if you live in the team’s local market. You can stream the game in those markets using either Vidgo or fuboTV, which both provide users access to live sports across multiple devices and platforms.
Baltimore Ravens at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Channel
Amazon Prime, ABC Channel 2 in Baltimore, FOX in Tampa - Location
Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Florida - Start Time
8:15 p.m. ET - Live Stream
Amazon Prime, NFL+, fuboTV (local), Vidgo (local)
The Ravens were considered among the league’s most dangerous teams heading into the 2022 season, and though Baltimore still possesses plenty of talent, the club’s current 4-3 record is considered a disappointment to many.
The offense is still potent, and the defense has been acceptable in spurts, but a series of injuries and inconsistent play have marred Baltimore’s season thus far. Three heartbreaking late-game collapses have contributed significantly to the season’s current course, and there’s no doubt that the Ravens’ faithful are hoping a matchup against the sputtering Bucs will represent an opportunity to turn things around.
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Calling Baltimore’s mid-season state a disappointment leaves one wondering how exactly we should then categorize Tampa Bay. The Buccaneers have been flat-out bad at several points this season, none more recently or jarringly than the team’s Week 7 matchup against the division-rival Carolina Panthers.
Tom Brady’s Bucs should’ve rolled over Carolina. They should’ve trounced the team en route to an easy victory that could’ve acted as a springboard to a more successful second-half-of-the-season run. Instead, Brady was embarrassed, and a Panthers team that many thought was in full “tank mode” now sits one game behind the 3-4 Bucs in a division mired in mediocrity.
To put it simply: there’s something amiss in Tampa. Brady’s stats are fine, but Brady is supposed to be several tiers above “fine.” The defense still has plenty of playmakers but isn’t stifling opponents the way it did week in and week out when Brady first arrived.
The running game is horrendous and ranks among the league’s worst in several categories. The offensive line, a unit that once kept Brady clean and upright game after game, is injured and underperforming.
If the Buccaneers are going to have a chance to turn the season around, a win under the bright lights of Thursday Night Football against a talented and well-coached, albeit up-and-down, Ravens squad would be a great place to start.
Of course, the star-studded cast of Lamar Jackson, Mark Andrews (if he plays), Brady, Mike Evans, and Leonard Fournette will headline the contest, but this game could very well come down to whether some of the less heralded players step up when things aren’t going well.
This means the likes of Ravens running back Gus Edwards, rookie tight end Isaiah Likely, and edge rusher Odafe Oweh will be key in taking down the Bucs. For Tampa, rookie running back Rachaad White, rookie tight end Cade Otton, and defensive end Joe Tryon-Shoyinka are some of the less nationally-known names to look out for.
In a battle between two teams that had high hopes to enter the year, this is a matchup that both may look back on as a pivotal turning point come playoff time.