Is third time a charm?
- Jan 14, 2021
- 2 min read
After gaining their first playoff win in seventeen years, the Bucs now turn their attention towards the New Orleans Saints for the third time this season, this time with a spot in the NFC Championship on the line. How fitting is it that Saints DE Cameron Jordan made the statement "the Bucs are playing for second-place" earlier this Summer after Brady signed his two-year deal wth the Bucs. How fitting would a victory be considering the Saints have bested the Bucs in both contests earlier this season?
After releasing two monkeys off the teams back in "making the postseason" along with "first playoff win in seventeen years', the Bucs look to avenge both their losses and getting the third one off their backs, while hoping to advance to the NFC Championship game for only the fourth time in team history. The Bucs will need to come up with a gameplan that doesn't involve five total rushes and an offense continuing to come out strong like they did last week in the Wildcard game vs Washington.
In order to do that, Bowles will need to force Brees to get rid of the ball before he is ready. This may involve some blitzing and continuing to contain Kamara, Thomas, and even utility guy, Taysom Hill, from making the explosion plays. For the most part, the Bucs defense has been able to obtain that, so hopefully the offense can repeat their production from last week. As everyone has been made aware over the last two decades, Brady tends to play his best football in late-December and into January.
With zero excuses for the Bucs inability to capture a win in the previous two meetings, it is ironic that Week One's matchup was Brady's first live action within a new offense in two decades. For no true OTAs and no pre-season, the Bucs fell to an eleven point loss while holding Brees to 187 yards. Week Nine's matchup witnessed the Bucs get exposed on defense by utility player, Taysom Hill as he gave the Bucs defense nightmares, with 102 total yards even though all the scoring did come from Kamara, both on plays from inside the 10-yardline. Unlike the previous games, Brady has been doing Brady things and its translating on the field, leading to victories.
For Bucs fans, this game has become personal. With a shot at the NFC Championship on the line, can the Bucs keep the brooms from coming out and treat the Saints to their yearly playoff exit? Tune in Sunday at 6:40pm on FOX.
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