By Brandon Simmons
What Defense Can Stop Brady in the Postseason?
Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers got shut out 9-0 in a defensive battle against the New Orleans Saints. It was the 2nd straight year that the Saints went into Tompa Bay and prevented that offense from scoring a touchdown. Last season New Orleans held Tampa Bay to 3 points in their stadium. However, when the two teams met in the postseason, it was the Buccaneers emerging as the winner despite being swept in the season series. As the Bucs are headed back to the playoffs, the competition might stiffen up, where 9 points becomes 29 easily, but which defense has a chance to really bring the disruption to Brady’s game.
As it stands right now the NFC playoffs are filled with teams who have either given the Buccaneers trouble offensively or could potentially do so. We’ve seen what the Saints could do, but teams such as the Los Angeles Rams and Arizona Cardinals, both rank high in passing defense categories such as yards per game allowed and sacks, respectively. In addition to those teams, you have the Dallas Cowboys who are quietly emerging as a defensive force, ranking 3rd in the league in QB hits. They can thank rookie linebacker Micah Parsons, who is 4th in the league in QB hits and 7th in the league in sacks. Can’t forget about the San Francisco 49ers, 4th in the NFC in sacks thanks to defensive end Nick Bosa, who is 2nd in sacks and QB hits.
The crazy thing about this list, is that all these teams have better offenses than the Saints, but you have to draw up the right plan to get take down Brady. New Orleans has obviously demonstrated this the past couple of times they have played Tampa, but are barely holding onto the final playoff spot. As far as these other teams go, they are going to have a strong shot to replicate the Saints’ success depending on the Buccaneers’ personnel. Tampa is currently dealing with slew of injuries, including losing wide receiver Chris Godwin for the year due to an ACL injury. Tom Brady is always going to have that competitive fire when it comes to the postseason but there are a couple of defenses in the NFC with the potential to extinguish that.
Reaction to the Scheduled Games
After 14 weeks into the season, the NFL finally had to reschedule a couple of games due to COVID. Friday, they announced the Las Vegas Raiders vs. Cleveland Browns game would be moved to Monday afternoon after several Browns players were put on the COVID/Reserve List, including Browns QB Baker Mayfield who tested positive for COVID-19. His backup, Case Keenum, also tested positive which left them down to their 3rd string quarterback. The other games that were moved because of COVID protocols were Washington vs. Philadelphia and Los Angeles Rams vs. Seattle Seahawks; both games being played on Tuesday evening in front of regional crowds. +
Last week I alluded to this possibly happening and it seems to have gotten bigger since then. More stars are being added to the virus list and it even forced the league to alter its rules for players returning to teams. The regular season is almost over, but there are still playoff spots yet to be solidified. Rescheduling games may very well have an affect on players’ performances going down the final stretch of the season. These games are crucial to those who are hanging on to the last Wild Card spots or trying to break in one, so rescheduling is going to be the best option but it should not have to get to that point. Players, coaches and front office people need to be aware of their surroundings and practice safe, healthy habits so they don’t bring anything back to the team. It’s very important to do since, at the time this blog is being written, there is a reported 140 players that are currently on the COVID/reserve list. Hopefully, this gets resolved by the time the postseason comes because it would be a mess if playoff games had to be moved around.
Shoutouts/Shutouts
Shout out to Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travs Kelce for is game winning catch and run on Thursday Night Football. In overtime, chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes was driving the ball down the field, when he hit his All-Pro tight end. Kelce proceeded to run through the Los Angeles Chargers defense all the way into the end zone.
Shut out to more late season injuries, particularly happening to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It was mentioned earlier about Tampa Bay wide receiver Chris Godwin suffering a season-ending ACL injury in the team’s loss to the New Orleans Saints. Tuesday, it was reported that Buccaneers running back Leonard Fournette will be placed on injured reserve after suffering a hamstring injury during the same game.
Wrapping the blog up short this week so everybody can start getting their travel on and settle in for some good football this weekend, barring any COVID protocols setbacks. The San Francisco 49ers are visiting the Tennessee Titans on Thursday Night Football as both teams fight for a playoff spot in their own conference (the Niners are 6th in the NFC and the Titans are 3rd in the AFC). Tennessee is in a much more secure spot for their playoff reservation than Tennessee is, so expect the latter to come out swinging. The New England Patriots are going to host the Buffalo Bills in a rematch from their Monday night game a few weeks ago. This was the game in which the Pats steamrolled the Bills for 222 rushing yards, as New England rookie QB Mac Jones completed 2 completions on 3 passes, for 19 yards. Buffalo is fighting for their playoff lives and will surely be motivated not to repeat the fashion in which they lost the first game. But until then…I’ll holla.