Week 8 of the 2023 NFL season will begin with a cross-conference matchup, as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will head north to take on the Buffalo Bills on Thursday Night Football. Both teams will be looking to keep pace in their respective divisions, as the Bills find themselves just a game behind the Miami Dolphins in the AFC East, while the Bucs are a half-game behind the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC South.

Both teams are fresh off upset losses in Week 7, with the Bills shockingly losing to the New England Patriots, and the Buccaneers falling to the Falcons on a last-second field goal. One team will get an extra long victory weekend and a chance to root against their division rivals over the weekend, while the other will have to hope and pray this loss doesn't end up setting them too far back as the playoff race comes into focus. Let's get ready for some Thursday Night Football by laying out all the information you need to know for this game.

Bills vs. Buccaneers: How to watch

Thursday Night Football is airing on Prime Video this year. Users with an appropriate Amazon Prime subscription can watch the game through Prime Video online or the Prime Video app. Users without that subscription can stream via fuboTV with no additional subscription required.

Date: Thursday, October 26th | 8:15 p.m. EDT

Location: Highmark Stadium — Buffalo, NY

T.V. channel: Prime Video| Live stream: fuboTV (click for a free trial)

FanDuel Odds: Bills -8.5 | O/U 42.5

Bills storylinesSean McDermott with Bills gear next to Ed Oliver and Von Miller in Bills uniform

After their inexplicable loss to the Aaron Rodgers-less New York Jets in Week 1, the Bills proceeded to reel off three straight wins, with the highlight being a blowout victory over the Dolphins a week after they hung 70 on the Denver Broncos. But just when it seemed like they figured things out, the Bills have lost two of their last three to fall back to second place in the AFC East. Losses to the Jacksonville Jaguars and Patriots weren't great looks, and even then, their victory over the lowly New York Giants wasn't all that impressive either. The offense and the defense are both top-five scoring units in the league, but for whatever reason, they cannot string together victories right now.

Last week's loss to the Patriots was particularly concerning, as New England was able to effectively move the ball on offense while limiting Josh Allen on the other side of the ball. Buffalo has struggled to put all the pieces together so far, and even when they do, they cannot sustain that success over a full 60 minutes of action. The Bills are heavy favorites over the Buccaneers, and they will be looking to bounce back and beat up on an inferior opponent after failing to do so last week.

Buccaneers storylines

Tampa Bay Buccaneers Week 4 New Orleans Saints franchise record

The Buccaneers somewhat overachieved to start the 2023 regular season, thanks in large part to Baker Mayfield being a healthy and effective asset under center. On the other side of the ball, the Buccaneers defense proved to be incredibly tough to move the ball on, and as a result, Tampa Bay won three of their first four games before their Week 5 bye. Since then, though, the Buccaneers have dropped two straight games, as they were understandably outclassed by the Detroit Lions but lost a tight one to the Falcons. If the Buccaneers want to remain relevant in their division, they need to win now.

The problem is there's a lot of things working against them. For starters, they are playing a tough Bills team on a short week, and Mayfield is dealing with a knee injury that could hold him out of this game. Sure, the Tampa offense hasn't set the world on fire, but they've shown flashes of being a solid complementary unit to their impressive defense. Without Mayfield, that throws their entire game plan into doubt.

Mayfield's status is going to be extremely important for this game, as it could be the difference between a competitive contest and a blowout. Either way, the defense is going to have to limit the Bills offense, but based on what we've seen over the past few weeks, that may be a reasonable ask, and if they can slow down Allen, this could end up being a low-scoring slugfest.