The Lone Red Flag
June 15th, 2021
Joe thought this was going to be dumb.
Usually, when Bleacher Report columnists force a subject, their Bucs ignorance sticks out like a sore thumb.
So when Kristopher Knox typed a piece choosing a red flag for each team, Joe fully expected something totally uninformed — like Knox suggesting something predictable and knee-jerk like “secondary” or “offensive line” or “backup quarterback.”
(Oh wait, backup quarterback is Ira’s schtick. 🙂
But Knox had a very interesting if not accurate take. He believes the Bucs’ red flag is the surgically-repaired knee of park-violating, home-invading, NFLPA-ignoring, down-forgetting, handshake-stiffing, jet-ski-losing, biscuit-baking, tequila-shooting, smartphone-phobic, waffle-grilling, trophy-throwing, roller-coaster-scared, numbers-rules-peeved, Bucs-Super-Bowl-winning quarterback Tom Brady.
And Joe thinks Knox is dead-on here.
While knee injuries have become routine in the NFL and Brady was a full participant in minicamp, there’s no telling exactly how his knee will respond over the course of a full 17-game season. Brady will be 44 years old when the season starts, and if his knee begins to go, so too could the Buccaneers’ season.
No, Joe is not stealing Ira’s second-favorite subject (Ira’s favorite is backup running backs catching screen passes in the flat). If Brady goes down, the Bucs are screwed.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Nick Foles and Jeff Hostettler. OK, fine, you found two exceptions. Whoop-tee-do. Does anyone really believe the Bucs are favorites to repeat if Brady goes down?
If you say “yes,” then Joe wants to see your ticket from your favorite gambling house/app that you put $5,000 down on the Bucs to repeat after Brady goes on injured reserve.
Joe is convinced the Bucs are screwed if Brady goes down, no matter who the backup is.
So, yeah, Joe can see Knox’s angle. The surgically-repaired knee of a 44-year old quarterback should be a concern. And it may be the only concern the Bucs have.
June 15th, 2021 at 10:04 am
No problem! Max-PROTECT the ever-living [expletive] out of him and spike his kale and avocado smoothies with Glucosamine. Easy Peasy.
June 15th, 2021 at 10:06 am
Yes….the backup QB is a problem…..but at least he will have weapons….
Weapons for Gabbert
Weapons for Griffin
Weapons for Trask
June 15th, 2021 at 10:19 am
Bucs will continue to add major help on LT Donovan Smith’s side. He needs a TE, RB to help him on every play & sometimes a 6th lineman
June 15th, 2021 at 10:21 am
@Joe … “Joe is convinced the Bucs are screwed if Brady goes down, no matter who the backup is.”
Joe, Negative Monday was yesterday; we made it past that without the negative speculation. At 44 yrs old, Tom Brady has a lot more than his repaired knee to be concerned about. Every defensive lineman in the league will be gunning for him, in the belief that if they take out Tom Brady the Bucs will be super-vulnerable. It’s up to our OLine to protect him through each & every of our 17 regular season games, and hopefully through the playoffs.
Personally I think the Bucs could still win the NFC South even with a backup QB at the helm. We’d still have an excellent OLine to protect him & buy him time, and we’d still have superb receiving weapons & running backs. Perhaps most importantly though, we still have an excellent defense AND Special Teams to keep us in each game.
Just have another 6-pack or two of your Big Storm brews or whatever they are and you’ll be OK. Do that every day until the season starts and all those ‘What IFs’ will magically just disappear.
June 15th, 2021 at 10:23 am
Bleacher Reports are the absolute worst source of info. Hell, I’d say the better posters on popular football fan sites could do a better job writing about the game.
June 15th, 2021 at 10:24 am
Come on Joe listen to Oneilbucs and stop the Brady worship.
Any old QB can take them to the Super Bowl.
🙂
June 15th, 2021 at 10:26 am
Brady proved last year he can play well even with knee issues. As long as they keep him upright, he will be fine.
June 15th, 2021 at 10:34 am
For better or worse, our next best option at qb is Gabbert. Everyone thought Tannehill was a bust until he got on a decent team.
June 15th, 2021 at 10:37 am
The well oiled machine will continue to run efficiently, even if one component part has to be replaced. The Bucs seem to be a well oiled machine. Trust the coaches!
June 15th, 2021 at 10:37 am
“Joe is convinced the Bucs are screwed if Brady goes down, no matter who the backup is.”
I get this statement Joe. We probably couldn’t repeat but lets not pretend that this team isn’t SO Loaded that even a competent QB couldn’t make the playoffs with it.
June 15th, 2021 at 10:42 am
There isn’t a competent NFL QB on this roster, outside of Tom Brady. That isn’t a smear, but rather a reasonable assessment of the QB depth chart.
June 15th, 2021 at 10:52 am
i agree with @John…
Bledsoe went down and look what happened….
trent green went down and look what happened…
it’ll be tougher no doubt but it can still be done…
GO BUCS!!!!!
June 15th, 2021 at 10:56 am
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Nick Foles and Jeff Hostettler. OK, fine, you found two exceptions.
– what about Bernie Kosar- replaced Aikman in NFC Championship game
June 15th, 2021 at 10:59 am
I am happy we drafted trask for this reason. Infinitely better then trotting Blaine Gabbert out there.
June 15th, 2021 at 11:14 am
I get the stick
But brady is not your normal person
He drinks 2 gallons of water a day …literally
Probably eats 25% of what the normal person consumes
Takes supplements up the ying
Doesnt drink booze accept boat parades
Has his own personal trainer that pissed off belichick
Oh and he just won a superbowl at 44
And he says the knee feels great
I put my money on brady
June 15th, 2021 at 11:18 am
To an extent, I think this is a red flag for MOST nfl teams. If QB1 goes down, there will be a drop off to QB2.
June 15th, 2021 at 11:31 am
More than any other QB, Brady IS the Bucs.
Knock on wood, that he stays healthy.
I saw enough from Blaine Gabbert- to believe he can be an NFL starter.
And Griffin has shown all the tools.
But there is only one Tom Brady.
We sucked before he got here, we’d suck without him
June 15th, 2021 at 11:34 am
Hopefully the team in general can avoid the injury bug..especially the O and D line.
June 15th, 2021 at 11:38 am
I think it is alarmist to worry about Tom’s knee repair.
June 15th, 2021 at 11:55 am
I agree that if Brady goes down, it will hurt. However, this offense is freaking Loaded!
No, we will not be as good as we would if Brady was in there, but we will still be a good team.
June 15th, 2021 at 12:14 pm
Trask won’t be ready as an competent backup this season. Next season perhaps, if he wins that battle during camp. The primary backup is Blaine Gabbert. He knows the offense, and he’s the guy (other than Tommy Boy) getting the most snaps with the first team during practice.
June 15th, 2021 at 12:24 pm
While injuries are part of the game, for a pocket passer, it is not too devastating if Brady has to deal with it the later part of the season…..he did so last year and no one really noticed it.
June 15th, 2021 at 12:28 pm
If that happens BA better lean on the running game and do what Brady was used to in NE, alot of short intermediate and screen passes. It worked for them it can work for us. It would take getting away from no riskit no biskit. For anyone to automatically to say we’re done says shows they really don’t have any faith in this coaching staff after lauding them all off season. If the o line blocks like they did last year we will always have a chance with the weapons we have on offense.
June 15th, 2021 at 12:41 pm
Every Player is a play away from their career being over because of injuries. Just saying…. GO BUCS!!!!
June 15th, 2021 at 1:15 pm
Lol 😆🤣 so now Kyle Trask will be the next scapegoat when his time comes. And yes 1987 I can name you a few quarterbacks that can win with the players the bucs added to the team and with the some of the new plays the coaching staff changed.
June 15th, 2021 at 1:36 pm
With Durable Donnie protecting his blind side….. TB has nothing to fear.
June 15th, 2021 at 2:02 pm
The Oline stood up last season, so no problem for them this season.
If Brady goes down, then I’ll just get the strongest case of Whiskey and hope for better days to come.
June 15th, 2021 at 2:18 pm
Joe, Shish.
June 15th, 2021 at 2:20 pm
Good reason to give Trask the 2nd most reps. Oh, yea. Also give him AB’s room in TB12’s new abode.
June 15th, 2021 at 2:26 pm
I got mixxed emotions on the thought of Brady going down with injury(we can all have assurance that Tom is a very durable player).
It would be horrible since we nearly lose all hope of a SuperBowl repeat.
But if we do lose Brady I still have high expectations for this team. I dont expect us to crumble like most of the teams we seen in the pasts. I still expect this team to compete with anybody in the league. I dont expect the run Defense to suddenly forget how to play, I expect our secondary to still make big game changung plays, I expect our weapons on offense to still get into the endzone and our OLine to still be a top unit…………In some ways I welcome the challenge.
June 15th, 2021 at 2:35 pm
Let the Power-run game set up easy passing opportunities for our plethora of receivers!
June 15th, 2021 at 3:41 pm
I’m a little more optimistic. Gabbert is dreadful. Griffin is probably dreadful, but is never given a chance, but maybe Trask could be special? The chances are slim, but ya never know…
June 15th, 2021 at 3:50 pm
Doug Williams and Trent Dilfer won the superbowl as backups as well
June 15th, 2021 at 4:29 pm
Buczilla. Why call Gabbert dreadful when hes never taken a meaningful snap as a Buccaneer?
Just me talking but I could care less what any player did outside of this orginization. If Gabbert does get some starts, lets hope its only a few……..But if he gets in does that mean he has to be dreadful? Its there a chance he can be competent? I think if we had Gabbert in for a few games we got a good enough team around him to still win so long as Blaine can just be competent………Butif he has no chance to be anything but dreadful I guess we should count them as losses now.
June 15th, 2021 at 4:30 pm
Hard to really damage a knee with a full brace. Does not Brady wear a Defender on his left knee in games?
I am not very worried.
June 16th, 2021 at 10:57 am
The problem I have with D Smith is he’s lazy. He could be an excellent tackle but he only plays when he feels like it, which isn’t very often.