Brady's dream-come-true offenive weapons
Aaron Rodgers at Green Bay might feel a bit hard done after taking a look at his fellow future Hall-of-Famer Tom Brady's arsenal and options in the offense. But is it enough to make Bucs a legit contender - or will it be Rodgers and the Cheeseheads (and maybe Patriots fans as well) who will get the last laugh?
Arguably the biggest shock of the offseason in the NFL has been the Brady – Patriots divorce after 20 glorious seasons, including nine Super Bowl appearances and six titles, most of any player in NFL. It is quite literally an end of an era but at 42 years, Brady is still hungry for competition and success – and he is willing to show that he is able to bring success with him, without Bill Belichick and the Patriots organization. What better challenge than a mediocre-at-best Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who went 7-9 last season and have not made the playoffs since 2007?
Buccaneers had a topsy-turvy season last year, with their 2015 first overall NFL pick Jameis Winston at helm as a starting QB. Heavily offensive loaded team allowed Winston to surpass 5100 passing yards with 33 touchdowns, the wide receivers Chris Godwin and Mike Evans wreaking havoc deep down, both with easily over 1000 receiving yards despite missing five games between the two. The downside? The most attempts in NFL (tied with Jared Goff of LA Rams) led to astonishing 30 interceptions and completion percentage of 60.7% - Winston’s lowest since his rookie year 2015. In addition Winston was sacked 47 times, 4th most in the league and lost the ball by fumble five times.
Exit Winston, enter Brady. While Brady is not the gunslinger he has been in his best years and his completion rate declined last season close to Winston’s, he only lost the ball eight times to an interception and once to a fumble. And Brady still threw for 24 touchdowns, made 600+ attempts and surpassed 4000 passing yards, despite literally having one offensive weapon in his arsenal, Julian Edelman. Brady may not be what he once was, but the sportsbooks think he may have a big impact on the team. After signing with the Bucs their NFL over under win total jump up to 9. Brady may be in the argument for the greatest of all time, but can the best to ever do it take this team to 9 wins next season?
The Buccaneers can offer Brady a plethora of offensive opportunities in Godwin, Evans and reuniting-Brady-from-retirement Rob Gronkowski. Brady is definitely playing with a chip on his shoulder, making one final statement before well-earned retirement in a couple of years. Buccaneer’s head coach Bruce Arians and offensive consultant Tom Moore, in addition to Brady, have such a wealth of football knowledge between them that it will be impossible to know what is coming from this offense. And that is even without a legitimate superstar running back or ground threat from the QB. Buccaneers defense and offensive line likely better now than it was last season, Brady just might have all the weapons to take the team into the playoffs, and at the least we know Brady will be a big impact on the Bucs’ point spreads once the season kicks off.
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