TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have lost three in a row. So have the Arizona Cardinals.
Still, the two teams are going in opposite directions.
The Buccaneers (6-5) lead a weak NFC South, though their grip on first place has loosened quite a bit following three poor defensive efforts against three winning teams.
The Cardinals (3-8) have almost clinched last place in the NFC West after losing eight of nine.
There’s more at stake for the Buccaneers when the teams meet Sunday in Tampa Bay.
Baker Mayfield will likely try to play through pain after spraining his left shoulder and sitting out the second half of a 34-7 loss to the Rams last week.
He played through worse with the Cleveland Browns in 2021.
“I had dislocated my shoulder completely, had a torn labrum, partial (tear in the) rotator cuff and cracked the bone in the socket, so it’s very different,” Mayfield said. “Now, it’s just truly about pain tolerance management, being able to move around and being able to throw and go from there.”
The Buccaneers enter with a half-game lead over Carolina (6-6) and will face the Panthers twice. Carolina is a double-digit underdog this week against the Rams. Teddy Bridgewater would start if Mayfield can’t go.
“Where we are at right now, we’re viewing the rest of these games must-win situations,” Mayfield said. “I know it’s not, theoretically, but that’s how we’re viewing it, that’s how we’re approaching it and for me, if I am physically able to go, then I’ll do it. ... but understanding that if I sit one game out and that provides me to be healthier for down the stretch, then that’s how I am going to look at it. I have to be smart with that, understanding that our sights are still set on the playoffs, but to get there we have to win these games, especially the NFC matchups. (We have) got to look at it that way and it’s kind of a double-edged sword, but we’ll see how it goes.”
The game will feature at least one backup quarterback starting. Veteran Jacoby Brissett will make his seventh start for Kyler Murray. He’s averaged 314.5 yards passing and has 11 touchdowns and only three interceptions.
“We aren’t playing bad. It’s just one or two things in those critical situations to get you over the hump,” Brissett said. “I definitely see it unfolding for us; it’s just a matter of when.”
The Cardinals only have 22 sacks this season but the Buccaneers must be aware of two players: Josh Sweat and Calais Campbell.
Sweat has nine sacks and the 39-year-old Campbell has 5 1/2.
“The fact that Calais Campbell is still playing at the level that he’s playing at is hats off to him,” Bucs offensive coordinator Josh Grizzard said. “Sweat does a really good job coming off the edge.”
Campbell, who is 6-foot-8, 315 pounds, has Mayfield’s attention.
“I don’t know how you’re that big and play for that long,” Mayfield said. “Kudos to him for taking care of his body the right way. I feel like everywhere I’ve been, I’ve had to play him... he keeps following me around.”
The Buccaneers are expecting second-year running back Bucky Irving to return after missing seven games because of foot and shoulder injuries.
Irving ran for 1,122 yards and scored eight touchdowns as a rookie while averaging 5.4 yards per carry. He had 237 yards rushing and 19 catches for 193 yards and two scores in the first four games this season before going down.
Rachaad White and Sean Tucker played well in his absence so Tampa Bay has excellent depth in the backfield.
“Everyone in that room is a great back,” Irving said. “I don’t look at it as I’m the starter, Rachaad is the starter, (or) Sean Tucker is the starter — we play for one another. I’m trying to bring that to this room and show that whoever is in the game, they can be a lead back, and whoever is in the game, we’ve got to play for one another. When you know you’ve got your brother’s back, everything is going to be all right knowing that you’re out there giving it your all.”
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
FILE - Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Bucky Irving (7) is stopped by Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean (33) during the first half of an NFL football game, Sept. 28, 2025, in Tampa, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File)
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Jacoby Brissett reacts after an NFL football game against the Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) looks on from the sidelines wearing a sling during the second half against the Los Angeles Rams in an NFL football game Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh)
LONDON (AP) — Britain’s government is expected to approve a “mega” Chinese Embassy close to London’s financial district after years of controversy and political wrangling over the potential security risks it poses to the U.K.
Lawmakers from across the spectrum have urged planning officials to reject China’s application for the new embassy. Critics fear the proposed new building, on a huge site close to London’s financial district and crucial data cables, will be used as a base for espionage. Others say the supersized embassy — set to be the biggest Chinese Embassy in Europe — will pose a heightened threat of surveillance and intimidation to Chinese dissidents in exile.
The decision was initially slated for October, but it was repeatedly postponed after multiple allegations of Chinese spying and political interference piled pressure on the British government.
British media have reported that the decision to approve the embassy will come this week, ahead of Prime Minister Keir Starmer's expected trip to China. The closely watched visit would be the first made by a British prime minister since 2018.
A final decision on the embassy is expected by Jan. 20, the deadline set by the government.
Here's a look at why the embassy has been the focus of protests and Sino-British tensions for years:
The proposed embassy at Royal Mint Court — the former site of the U.K.’s coin maker, near the Tower of London — will cover about 20,000 square meters (215,278 square feet) and replace several Chinese official buildings across London.
Critics say the new site sits too close to underground fiber optic cables carrying sensitive financial information between London’s two main financial districts.
Conservative Party lawmaker Alicia Kearns said that risks handing over access to data that would give China’s government “a launchpad for economic warfare against our nation.” She cited news reports that the building complex would include 208 secret basement rooms close to the data cables.
Dissidents have also been among hundreds of people who have protested the plans, saying a mega-embassy housing large numbers of officials would further China’s repression of activists abroad.
Lawmakers from the governing Labour Party who oppose the plan say concerns include “the recent track record of Chinese espionage cases, interference activities and issuing of bounties against U.K.-based Hong Kongers.”
The site was bought by China’s government for 225 million pounds ($301 million) in 2018, but plans for the embassy have been delayed since.
Local officials rejected the initial application over concerns that the embassy would attract many large protests, affecting the safety of residents and tourists. China resubmitted its proposals after the Labour government took power last year.
Bronwen Maddox, director of the London think tank Chatham House, said she believed Britain's government should approve the proposed mega-embassy “given that MI5 and MI6 (U.K. intelligence agencies) have said they are not worried about the city cables underneath it."
“I guess that you could see why there is cause for concern, but what I think the government should be much tougher on is what exactly is China going to do with that embassy, never mind the building; what about the people in it? Why does it need so many? What are they going to do?"
China has complained about the seven-year delay in approving the project, saying the U.K. was “constantly complicating and politicizing the matter.”
“The development scheme of the new Chinese Embassy is of high quality and has been highly recognized by local professional bodies,” the Chinese embassy said in a statement in October. “The application complies with diplomatic practice and local regulations and procedures.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian has warned that if the embassy isn’t approved, “the consequences arising therefrom shall be borne by the U.K. side.”
Recent high-profile cases involving alleged Chinese espionage have raised alarms about the embassy.
In November, the domestic intelligence agency, MI5, issued an alert to lawmakers warning that Chinese agents were making “targeted and widespread” efforts to recruit and cultivate them using LinkedIn or cover companies.
Authorities believe the alleged “headhunters” were trying to gain access to sensitive information about Parliament and Britain’s government.
Beijing has strongly denied the claims, calling them “pure fabrication and malicious slander.”
Earlier, Britain’s government faced questions on whether it had interfered in the trial of two alleged Chinese spies in order to preserve good ties with China.
Former parliamentary researcher Christopher Cash and academic Christopher Berry were charged last year with spying for Beijing. But their trial collapsed at the last minute because the U.K. government refused to brand China a threat to national security, the country’s chief prosecutor said.
Facing criticism that he is not taking a tough enough stance on the security risks, Starmer has stressed that while protecting national security is non-negotiable, Britain needs to keep up diplomatic dialogue and cooperation with the Asian superpower.
“This is not a question of balancing economic and security considerations. We don’t trade off security in one area, for a bit more economic access somewhere else,” he has said.
Last year, Starmer said Chinese President Xi Jinping personally raised the matter during a phone call.
Opposition lawmaker Priti Patel derided Starmer as “Beijing’s useful idiot in Britain.”
“Starmer’s ‘reset’ with Beijing is a naive one-way street, which puts Britain at risk while Beijing gets everything it wants,” she said.
Associated Press writer Danica Kirka contributed to this report.
FILE - Protesters hold umbrellas, placards, and flags as they demonstrate against the proposed building of a new Chinese embassy, and to mark the 11th year of the Umbrella Revolution in Hong Kong, in London, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Joanna Chan, file)
FILE - Protesters hold umbrellas, placards, and flags as they demonstrate against the proposed building of a new Chinese embassy, and to mark the 11th year of the Umbrella Revolution in Hong Kong, in London, Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Joanna Chan, file)
