Hard To Jump On Bandwagon
August 17th, 2020
SI.com writer expects drop.
It seems one national writer is having a hard time swallowing the sugary-sweet nectar of hype.
Connor Orr of SI.com seems torn. He has a list of teams he thinks will compete for the Super Bowl this year. Despite all the additions to the Bucs, Orr doesn’t believe the Bucs have a realistic chance.
Why is that? The guy who will start at quarterback and the same guy who had no offseason with his new team, Orr wrote.
Tampa Bay was the most difficult team to leave off the list and not just because they added Tom Brady this offseason. The Buccaneers had one of the strongest defensive units in the NFL last year, including the best run defense in football. Todd Bowles is in his element and has the pieces to develop something Seahawk-ian. Buccaneers fans will look at the Super Bowl contenders page and point out that this team has all the things I liked about the Steelers—at least three elite offensive linemen, a fleet of solid pass rushers and sound cornerback play—plus Brady, plus Mike Evans, plus Chris Godwin, plus Rob Gronkowski. My only response, and it’s a bit of a hunch, is that it might be difficult to pull everything together without a formal offseason. We tend to become enamored with free agency before realizing that veterans were let go or unsigned for a reason.
Orr cited Kurt Warner, Brett Farve, Drew Bledsoe and Warren Moon as examples of high profile quarterbacks who all struggled with their new teams.
Joe thinks this is lazy research. When Farve jumped from the Jets to the Vikings the Purple People Eaters made the playoffs, and the Jets started 8-3 when Favre got there.
When Drew Brees first went to New Orleans the slimy Saints won 10 games and made the playoffs.
When Kirk Cousins flipped to Minnesota he guided the Vikings to the playoffs.
And this is just off the top of Joe’s head.
Orr did confess one reason he thinks the Bucs may make a run to the Super Bowl is the defense. He’s a big fan of Todd Bowles as a Bucs defensive coordinator.
August 17th, 2020 at 10:28 am
it’s FAVRE, give the man his respect.
August 17th, 2020 at 10:29 am
Brad Johnson, was he high profile? He won the Super Bowl in his second season.
August 17th, 2020 at 10:36 am
Seems there’s always someone who has to swim upstream or go against the grain. Connor Orr who? ..oh that guy
August 17th, 2020 at 10:48 am
Like-minded people like Orr are the exact reason Brady came to TB. Most quarterbacks would suffer from the lack of a full training camp, pre-season, etc. with a new team. Brady wanted to prove that he is indeed the GOAT. Given all the barriers posed by the Covid-19 restrictions, he will lead this team to the SB, doubters be damned!
August 17th, 2020 at 12:17 pm
21 years in the league, seen every defense known to man, the goat, chemistry with gronk, i see no problems getting on page with evans and godwin
August 17th, 2020 at 12:56 pm
Peyton Manning didn’t do too bad when he went to the Broncos.
August 17th, 2020 at 2:27 pm
Joe you are tripping. Orr is talking about high profile qbs past their primes who changed teams by the list you provided. Brees was only in his 5th year when he switched teams and kirk cousins is slap in the middle of his prime. As for farve, they were 8-3 but finished 8-8 partly due to the fact that farve’s arm gave out. So theres that.
August 17th, 2020 at 2:55 pm
The bandwagon is already crowded enough. Who needs this guy?
August 17th, 2020 at 6:17 pm
I wonder who the three elite linemen are that he mentions.
Maybe, maybe….Jensen?