This weekend, the Buccaneers take the field at their home stadium for a historic Super Bowl under circumstances sports fans—including starry-eyed Bay area lifers who’ve now seen all three of their major sports teams make it to the championships of their respective leagues—may never witness again.
There’ve been some notable highlights stretching all the way back to the preseason—like when the Bucs signed running back Leonard Fournette in September (the ex-Jag has two touchdowns and 211 yards in the playoffs already, and Tampa Bay could not have made it to big game without him)—to the NFC championship when Sean Murphy-Bunting picked off Aaron Rodgers to tie the franchise record for most interceptions in a postseason.
And never mind that he kinda sorta held ontoPackers receiver Allen Lazard’s jersey, either because the refs didn’t care, and the pick led to the Scotty Miller hauling in a last-second TD at the end of the first half of the NFC Championship game. The Bucs could have punted two plays prior. They could have played it safe and gone with an out route to try to get out of bounds and set up the field goal. But nope.
Tom Brady and Bruce Arians said, “You know what? We’re going to go for it all. RIsk it for the biscuit.” And they absolutely got the biscuit, with Miller hauling in a perfect deep ball from Brady to take a 21-10 lead going into halftime against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers who everyone—including me—had winning the game. So in honor of the team set to make even more history on Sunday, here are the top 10 moments of what could be the most memorable season of Buccaneer football ever.
10. Bucs sign Ryan Succop
What, you thought I was going to go an entire column without mentioning my favorite player? Ryan Succop may be an underappreciated member of the NFC Champion Bucs, but he is certainly valued very highly in my mind. He’s been an answer to one of the most unanswerable problems the Bucs have had for the past decade. He’s ended the curse of Matt Bryant, which started after the Bucs cut the very productive and very solid veteran kicker in 2009. Ever since then, the Bucs have had a revolving door of kickers, including that disastrous decision to trade up and use a second-round pick on FSU standout Roberto Aguayo. But now? Succop has had one of the most productive seasons of any Bucs kicker, finishing third all-time in field goal percentage and field goals made in a single season. We all know how important having a good kicker is. The football gods seem to know when a team has a weak kicker, and games just seem to always fall upon their shoulders (or feet) when they’re struggling the most. The Bucs don’t have that problem anymore.
9. Tom Brady throws 40th touchdown in a Buccaneer uniform
This may not sound like a huge deal, because he’s Tom Brady, but Brady had only thrown for 40-plus TDs once before—in that 2007 season when he was throwing to Randy Moss and racked up 50 TDs and an MVP award. Not only that, but Brady also accomplished this year’s feat in his 21st season as a pro, and at age 43. For a frame of reference, I myself am 21 years of age. Brady’s last touchdown pass of the regular season came against the Atlanta Falcons during a game in which he threw four TDs, and it was thrown to Antonio Brown; that toss extended TB12’s record for most passing TDs in a single season in Bucs history, which was previously owned by Jameis Winston, who had 33 TDs in his now infamous 30-for-30 year. Thank goodness Brady owns the record now.
The Bucs making the playoffs may sound like a huge accomplishment, and for the Bucs it was, but when you have Tom Brady under center, the expectations are a little higher. So, making the playoffs was expected. No big deal. Except, for Bucs fans, it kind of was. The last time the Bucs made the playoffs? Jon Gruden was the head coach. LeBron James was in Cleveland (the first time). George W. Bush was president. And, last but not least, the team Tampa Bay lost to in the playoffs was the New York Giants, who ended up beating, guess who? Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. So, yeah. A lot has changed, and the Bucs making the playoffs signified the end of a seemingly endless string of awful seasons with horrible teams.
7. Mike Evans gets to 1,000 receiving yards on the season, setting an NFL record
No other receiver in NFL history has started each of the first seven years of their career with 1,000-yard receiving performances. That is, until Mike Evans did it this year in the final game of the season. No one on the Bucs is more deserving of a record like this, especially this season. Evans has played through injury, he sacrificed touches when Antonio Brown and Rob Gronkowski got added to the mix, and he did it all without complaining alld while still maintaining an incredibly high standard of play. He is one of the best receivers in the game and him setting this record was certainly one of the feel-good stories of the year, especially since he also got to play in his first playoff game the following week.
Rob Gronkowski has not had the heavy impact catching the football that many thought he would, but his services as a blocker are invaluable. Plus, Tom Brady having his old buddy around has only helped things. I have to think that having the big rhino-lookin’ tight end on the field with him isn’t necessarily about drawing up plays for the big tight end, but it’s more about Brady feeling comfortable. Gronk has been in the huddle with Tom, he’s been lining up with him, and when something goes wrong, Gronk’s translated Brady’s occasional signature hissy fits for other members of the offense. Without Gronk, the Bucs’ locker room might be a little too serious for the team to win.
I know what you’re thinking” “This was an awful game, probably the worst of the season. Why is this on the list?” You’re right. It was an awful game. But that’s what makes it so important. In every superhero movie or comic book there’s a tragic backstory for every character. Whether you see the Bucs as a villain or a hero, this game was their “tragic” backstory. Tampa Bay losing to New Orleans was a wake-up call. Just because Tom Brady is here doesn’t mean everything is going to work out. Some shit needed to change, and it needed to change fast. The Bucs were not going to be very successful in the playoffs if they continued whatever they were up to leading up that game. So that night was their backstory. Without this excruciating loss, the Saints don’t start talking a bunch of trash on Twitter. Without this loss, the Bucs probably don’t get as hyped-up about the divisional game. So while this game was certainly a waste of all of our time, it was a necessary evil, and thus it makes the list.
4. Bucs defeat Washington in wild card game
Now, this game was kind of a dud and pretty much boring. I mean, we had to watch Taylor Heinicke play quarterback in a playoff game. Given, he gave a valiant effort, but he was an XFL backup for a reason. It was a road playoff game, however, against a very good defense, and Brady’s bunch took care of business. This could have very easily been one of those trap games that sneaks up on teams and bites them in the ass. The Bucs could have come out and played a lazy, sleepy game and lost. But instead, they won the Bucs’ first playoff game since the Super Bowl in 2002. Pretty exciting stuff.
I don’t remember where I was when the news broke that Brady was going to be a Buc, but I do remember writing articles about the Bucs’ search for a new QB and how Philip Rivers was probably going to end up in Tampa. And that would have been fine. Honestly, the Bucs probably would have made the playoffs with Rivers back there, too. Would they have done anything in the playoffs? Eh… let’s just say it’s a bit more difficult to win in the playoffs with Rivers under center. But, nonetheless, the Bucs got Brady. And that signing just set off a whole string of events. If the Bucs don’t sign Brady, they sign someone else or use their first-round pick on a QB, which then doesn’t give them Tristan Wirfs—selected by Tampa Bay in the first round with the 13th pick in the 2020 NFL Draft—who has been one of the best tackles in the NFL in his rookie season. If the Bucs don’t sign Brady, they don’t get Gronk or Antonio Brown, and they probably don’t get Leonard Fournette either. If the Bucs don’t sign Brady, none of this winning happens. So thank goodness they signed Brady.
2. Bucs win NFC Championship
It seems crazy to put the Bucs punching a ticket to the biggest game in sports at no. 2 on this list, but I’ll explain that in the next segment. Let’s focus on this one. The Bucs had faced the Packers earlier in the year, absolutely demolishing Aaron Rodgers and the Packers 38-10 and sacking Rodgers like, 50 times (it was actually five). But this was different. The boys from the beach were going to frozen Lambeau Field where they had to play one of the hottest teams in the league, and the Packers were pretty much 100% healthy. Green Bay wideout Davante Adams wasn’t coming off an injury, he was going to be free to roam around and pick apart the Bucs’ secondary. But none of that mattered. Tom Brady may have thrown three picks in the second half, but man, did they look good in that first half. And it was enough to carry them to the promised land. And now, we get to watch the Bucs play the Chiefs in the Super Bowl. In Tampa.
1. Bucs defeat Saints in Divisional Round
This felt like the moment when we all knew something special was going on with the Bucs. We all had watched the Bucs get trounced by these guys twice in the regular season. We all knew New Orleans had beaten the crap out of the Chicago Bears in the previous week. We all knew how good the Saints are at home. So it wasn’t looking great. But the Bucs went out there and slayed the dragon. They took down the Saints, and they did it in spectacular fashion. This was the most exciting moment of the season. The hatred for the Saints just was on another level. Sure, beating Aaron Rodgers and the Packers was fun, and it’s certainly amazing that the Bucs get to play in the Super Bowl, but if the Bucs had simply beaten the Saints in the Divisional round and extended the Saints’ misery in the playoffs for another year? I think we all would have been satisfied with that.
Luckily, we don’t have to settle just yet. The Bucs take on Patrick Mahomes and the daunting Chiefs, and they’ll certainly be facing an uphill battle against a team that beat the Bucs at Raymond James earlier this year.
But I get the feeling Tom Brady will be up for the task. I think he’s been here before.
Support local journalism in these crazy days. Our small but mighty team is working tirelessly to bring you up to the minute news on how Coronavirus is affecting Tampa and surrounding areas. Please consider making a one time or monthly donation to help support our staff. Every little bit helps.
Subscribe to our newsletter and follow @cl_tampabay on Twitter.
This article appears in Feb 4-10, 2021.
