On Sunday, old men will lead guys young enough to be their kids onto the field for battle. And we’re not talking about another insurrection.
Of course, I’m referring to the Buccaneers and Saints matchup featuring two legendary, but up-there-in-age QBs: Drew Brees and Tom Brady.
Both will bring their A-game to Tampa Bay’s most-anticipated matchup of this decade. And it’s fitting, isn’t it? Brady and Brees taking the field together, for what could be the last time, with a trip to Green Bay on the line (let’s be honest, the Rams aren’t beating the Packers on Saturday).
But football teams are made up of 53 players, not just QBs, and there’s no reason to rehash all of the history between these two old farts because ESPN and everyone else will be rubbing their crotches in the nostalgia all week long.
The Bucs will be without starting right guard Alex Cappa, as his fractured ankle is expected to keep him out of Sunday’s game. Tampa Bay responded by signing former Buc Earl Watford to the practice squad. Watford provides quite a bit of familiarity to not only the Bucs, but to head coach Bruce Arians, as he was drafted by the Cardinals when BA was their head coach there in 2013. Watford spent three years in the desert under Arians in that high-powered offense.
All of that is to say that Watford could easily step in and fill in for Cappa if need be, but the veteran has to clear COVID-19 protocols first, and the Bucs have already tapped three-year veteran Aaron Stinnie to make his first NFL start.
Some good news though; both linebacker Devin White and defensive lineman Steve McLendon have been activated off the Bucs’ COVID-19 list and are eligible to play against the Saints. White and McLendon missed both the last game of the season and last week’s wild card game, but are both revved up for the Bucs’ third matchup with the Saints this year. Both will certainly be needed to try to slow down New Orleans running back Alvin Kamara and those pesky short passes that always seem to break for big gains.
Speaking of those previous two dud games, let’s forget about them. Playoff football is very different from regular season football, both for TB12 and the Saints. Historically TB12 has undeniably been great. He pretty much owns every statistical record a quarterback can have in the playoffs, while the Saints are the first team in league history to lose three straight playoff games on the last play of the game. So… yeah. A little bit of a contrast between these two sides.
But TB12 is with the Bucs. The Bucs just recorded their first playoff victory since 2002. You know what the Patriots did in that span? They made it to the Super Bowl eight times and won five Lombardi trophies. Will the Bucs’ horrendous struggles of the past decade-plus offset the Saints’ recent playoff struggles, or will the greatness of TB12 overcome it all? Honestly, your guess is as good as mine, but I’ll go ahead and say the Bucs will pull it out in another spectacular Saints playoff meltdown, scoring three TDs in the fourth quarter on their way to a 31-27 victory.
It’s Tom Brady. He’s been here before. And the Saints have been building on that bad karma, what with all the smack talk on Twitter and the big celebrations after games. It seems like it happens every year: New Orleans has a great regular season, gets cocky, and then gets embarrassed by Case Keenum, Jared Goff and Kirk Cousins in the playoffs.
Let’s hope it happens again.
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This article appears in Jan 7-13, 2021.
