Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs New England Patriots: Tom Brady against his former team

In a previous prediction, I already wrote about how incredibly unpredictable the first few weeks of the new NFL season turned out to be. This season has set the record for most underdog wins in the history of the new era (since the introduction of the Super Bowl). Before that, the most unpredictable start to a season was recorded in 2002. Almost 20 years ago.

And remember what happened the year before - in 2001? That’s when Tom Brady broke into the league. The young quarterback replaced Drew Bledsoe for the New England Patriots and won the league title. And the Super Bowl’s most valuable player. And the love of the crowd. All right, not all of them back then.

But who would have thought 20 years later we’d still see Tom Brady on the football field? Now a seven-time NFL champion. Now, as part of a new team, he won the Super Bowl in his first year.

And this Sunday, he’ll be playing against his former team, where he’s been champion six times.

Of course, last year was a special year for the Pirates. The team bid to bring in a stellar group of veterans - Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski, Antonio Brown, Endamukon Su. Finally, a veteran of the NFL coaching ranks, Bruce Arians, also became the new head coach. That, coupled with a talented young defence, made the new Tampa project incredibly interesting. But hardly anyone could have imagined that a new champion would grow out of it all.

As last season progressed, the Bucs bogged down. Arians publicly criticized Brady. Then things would start to settle down, and, suddenly, they’d go into a tailspin again. Brady seemed to be beginning to find common ground with his receivers but asked to have Antonio Brown, a talented but phenomenally scandalous fellow from whom the entire league had suffered. It had suffered and put an end to it. But Brady wanted AB, which was rumored to have displeased his offensive partners.

Once again, the team went from a devastating defeat against the Saints to important victories that gave the team a playoff berth. A slim exit, it must be said.

And then all the pieces of the puzzle came together. In the end, Tampa rolled through the decisive games like a tank and won the Super Bowl.

A lot of people were looking forward to this season. How’s Tampa? How’s their defense? How’s 44-year-old Tom Brady? The reigning champions are doing well, even with one loss.

Tom Brady is second in the league in yards per game average with 362.3 yards (second only to Derek Carr of Vegas).

The 34.3 points per game average from the offense is the best in the NFL. The offense is playing great football. What’s so surprising about that, though? The 44-year-old version of Brady is in excellent order. And he’s surrounded by stars: Gronkowski, Goodwin, Evans.

The defending reigning champions are also good—especially Shaq Barrett, who has 19.5 sacks since 2020, the league’s best record. And coordinator Todd Bowles continues to make life difficult for his opponents with a powerful pass rush.

However, so much has been said about Brady and his greatness, but not a word about the Emperor himself. And a lot of people think the importance of the Patriots head coach in the team’s success, and Tom Brady is enormous. There may even be more to the Patriots’ successes than Brady himself. We’re talking, of course, about Bill Belichick.

He was the one who gave Brady a chance back in 2001. It was he who was the Pats head coach during all six championships. And he’s still the head coach of New England.

But there’s a catch. Since Brady left Foxborough (Patriots Stadium), Bilichek has won just eight games out of 19.

“So what, does that mean we have to concede on Sunday night now? It’s a completely different game! A completely different game!” - admits the great coach.

The new Patriots offense today is built around a young quarterback. Mac Jones, young talent from the University of Alabama, is trying to find himself in the NFL. But it doesn’t always work out, although Jones’ talent is visible.

He’s a great player. He’s smart, great in the envelope, and has great mobility. He doesn’t care about press and fan pressure. He faced it back in Alabama. He is accurate, young, and athletic. There’s no doubt he should be a star!

Tampa head coach Bruce Arians, known for his work with Big Ben, Andrew Luck and many others.

But for now, Jones needs to learn. He had arguably the best game in the first championship game in the pros - 29 of 39 for 281 yards with one touchdown. But his team lost to the Dolphins (16-17).

In the second game, Jones threw just eight inaccurate passes. But the Patriots were playing one of the worst teams in the NFL, the New York Jets. And, of course, they won (25-6).

But last week, the young quarterback was tested by a really tough New Orleans defense. And Jones floundered, throwing three interceptions. As a result, it was 13-28 in favour of the opponents.

Can you imagine the excitement around the match? What emotions will there be? It will be something unbelievable.

Our dream is to beat Tom Brady! We know him! And we know that this game could, among other things, change our whole team!

New England Patriots defender Devin McCourty, who has won three championship titles with Brady.

I know every corner in this stadium. I know every guard and caretaker. I love this place. And I’m glad to be back here again!

Tom Brady shares his emotions about returning to Foxborough.

Anything can happen in matches like this. One thing’s for sure, right now, Brady and his offense are better than Jones’ offense. Add to that two more historical details. Brady needs 68 yards to surpass Drew Brees on the best passing yards in American football history. A win would put him in the quarterback club that has beaten all 32 NFL teams. Drew Brees, Brett Favre, and Peyton Manning are currently in that club.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers appear to be the favourites for this meeting. But given the emotionality and fundamentality of the game, I’d rather bet on the first touchdown from the reigning champions. Tom Brady will want to beat Brees on the first drive. Jones’ offense, on the other hand, could get off to a highly humble start.