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BY IRA KAUFMAN
@IKaufman76

In their quest to run it back as Super Bowl champions, the 2021 Bucs have an opportunity to join some NFL company.

Tom Brady is hunting his eight-year record

Given the quality of his targets — and an extra game on the schedule — Tom Brady has a realistic chance of topping Peyton Manning’s single-season record of 55 TD passes, set in 2013. That was the year Denver went 13-3 while Manning directed the most potent offense in league annals, averaging 37.9 points per game.

“This was Peyton Manning at the peak of his powers,” said Hall of Fame executive Gil Brandt. “Four players posted double-digit touchdown catches.”

The Bucs just rolled up 31 points and 24 first downs against Dallas, despite an NFL-high four giveaways and a quiet evening by Mike Evans in Week 1. And here come the defenseless Falcons, fresh off a 32-6 home loss against Philadelphia.

In his past six quarters against Atlanta, Brady has completed 47-of-70 passes for 719 yards and six TDs. That’s better than 10 yards per pass attempt as Tampa Bay scored 75 points in 90 minutes of frightening football.

It’s hard to imagine any quarterback in NFL history throwing to a more skilled group of targets. Rob Gronkowski is a first-ballot Hall of Famer while Evans and a resurrected Antonio Brown each own compelling resumes for Canton.

Then there’s Chris Godwin, who would rank as the No. 1 wide receiver on at least 20 other teams.

Imagine three potential Hall of Fame targets on one roster. It hasn’t happened often during the Super Bowl era. The Raiders had it going for a few years in the mid-1970s when Cliff Branch, Fred Biletnikoff and tight end Dave Casper were terrorizing NFL defenses.

The 1971-72 Cowboys boasted Hall of Famers Bob Hayes, Lance Alworth and Mike Ditka, but Alworth and Ditka were at the end of distinguished careers and both were retired by 1973.

This Buc roster has enough juice to join the 2013 Broncos, the 2007 Patriots, the 1999 Rams and the 1998 Vikings as the most formidable attacks of the past quarter-century.

Brady led the 2007 Pats to a 16-0 record as Randy Moss fueled an offense that averaged 36.8 points.

“When you score 48 points or more on the road three times, you know you’re special,” Brandt said.

This Buc offense should be special as well, especially given the regular-season schedule. Only the Rams, Patriots, Dolphins. Bears and Saints have the makings of a Top 10 defense, so Brady figures to flourish behind a line that yielded zero sacks in the opener.

The 1998 Vikings went 15-1 while scoring at least 24 points every game as Randall Cunningham had a career year throwing to Moss and Cris Carter.

The 1999 Rams, dubbed “The Greatest Show on Turf,” featured league MVP Kurt Warner throwing to Hall of Famer Isaac Bruce and Canton finalist Torry Holt.

That team also had the ultimate X-factor in Marshall Faulk, who accounted for a stunning 2,429 yards from scrimmage, No. 2 all-time behind Chris Johnson’s 2009 season with Tennessee.

While Ronald Jones and Leonard Fournette are productive backs, neither will ever be confused with Marshall Faulk.

Brady needs 52 TD passes in the final 16 games to break Manning’s cherished mark. Can he pull it off?

As Michael Corleone’s henchman Rocco Lampone put it in “The Godfather, Part II,” when asked about a hit on Hyman Roth, “difficult, not impossible.”

Antonio Brown

Brady certainly has the weapons if his fearsome foursome remains healthy.

Bruce Arians says Brown looks like he’s 25 instead of 33. That should scare the bejesus out of every opposing cornerback because when Brown was 25, he was catching 110 passes for 1,499 yards from Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh.

Counting the postseason, the Bucs have reeled off eight consecutive games with at least 30 points. They haven’t been held below 24 points since that 38-3 debacle against the Saints last November.

Not bad for a franchise whose four Hall of Famers have all hailed from the defensive side.

This offense is both prolific and scary. Let’s see if it’s historic.

Sage Ira Kaufman drives a 2020 Ford Escape, cherry red, from Bill Currie Ford. Ira loves that ride as much as he adores tater tots. Shop now at BillCurrieFord.com and demand the Ira Kaufman discount.