Buccaneers to face Cardinals' Trace McSorley on Christmas night

Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers may have received an early Christmas present. 

As noted by Josh Weinfuss of ESPN, third-choice quarterback Trace McSorley will start for the 4-10 Arizona Cardinals when they host the 6-8 Buccaneers on Christmas night. Per Kevin Patra of the NFL's website, Arizona head coach Kliff Kingsbury confirmed Wednesday that veteran Colt McCoy remains in concussion protocol coming off this past Sunday's 24-15 loss to the Denver Broncos and has already been ruled out for the weekend. 

Cardinals Week 1 starter Kyler Murray went down with a season-ending torn ACL on Dec. 12. 

McSorley will make his first NFL regular-season start after he replaced McCoy against Denver and completed seven of 15 passes for 95 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions. In total, the 27-year-old has attempted 39 career regular-season passes since the 2019 campaign. He connected on 18 of those throws (46.2%) for 256 yards with one touchdown and three picks. 

While the Cardinals are already eliminated from the postseason tournament, this Sunday's game is massive for a Buccaneers side that remains in first place despite the team's woeful record. The 

Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, and Atlanta Falcons all trail Tampa Bay in the NFC South standings with 5-9 marks. 

The Buccaneers host the Panthers on Jan. 1 and then finish the regular season at the Falcons on Jan. 8.