Get Ready For A Ride, Bucs Fans
January 7th, 2021
Flashbacks for Boston-types.
Joe found this perspective very, very interesting.
A couple of guys with Boston backgrounds who used to cover the Belicheats for the Boston Globe, Michael Holley and Michael Smith, took to their weekday Peacock show, “Brother from Another,” and the topic was park-violating, home-invading, NFLPA-ignoring, down-forgetting, handshake-stiffing, jet-ski-losing, biscuit-baking Bucs quarterback Tom Brady.
Basically, what Holley and Smith have seen of Brady from afar, they are getting flashbacks to when they watched him from their front row seats for years. Both remarked how Brady is rounding into form as the regular season ended. Brady was named as the “NFL’s Player of the Week” for Week 17 yesterday.
“I’ve seen this before,” Holley said of Brady hitting at peak as the playoffs begin.
Smith believes what Brady has done this year with all the obstacles (no minicamp, no OTAs, new team, new coach, new coordinator, new teammates, new home, new state, new climate) represents one of Brady’s best seasons.
Brady may have movie star good looks for a reason, Smith suggested, because he’s seen this flick a few times before.
“It’s a remake,” Smith said. “But I have seen this plot. He’s gotten better as the year has gone on. And he’s getting more comfortable. He’s having fun. He’s out here getting his boys their money. He’s getting Antonio Brown the hook-up.
“It seems like the script is falling into place for him to add another notch to his belt.”
That belt ends at the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway in the Super Bowl next month.
Holley agrees with Smith but thinks Brady’s character has changed.
“To see the arm strength, which is not supposed to be one of his best characteristics,” Smith said. “But he was able to throw the deep ball very well.”
If guys who have seen Brady at his very best say they see that Brady again, only wearing red and pewter, that gets Joe geeked on a chilly January morning.
January 7th, 2021 at 5:08 am
Can the Bucs storm the capital?
January 7th, 2021 at 6:03 am
No doubt
January 7th, 2021 at 6:28 am
It is humorous NFL Network and others keep saying if there were an upset on Wildcard Weekend, it will be WAS over TB, because Brady is just average under pressure. Reminds me of the SB year where they were going into PHI for the NFC Championship game and no one gave the Bucs a chance, and then same two weeks later against OAK in the SB.
To be honest, my ONLY concern about this game is if BL is competent enough to gameplan offensively to minimize the brutal WAS pass rush and above average secondary. I am certain he knows much more about football than I, but he’s the one who gets paid to be effective, and he did not look to plan well for some of the games this year against good Ds (NO, CHI, LAR. The Bucs also have not done well against QBs without a lot of playing time. Worst case, I expect a low scoring game where Brady pulls it out. I hope the best case…a severe beat down, is what we see.
January 7th, 2021 at 6:50 am
IMO< the Bucs OL is being disrespected with all this talk of the FTFKATR pass rush.
I hope those big uglies are taking it personally.
January 7th, 2021 at 6:55 am
if we get pressure on qb alex smith…….. it will be a blowout….
tom has been here before ….. it will be very entertaining…….
January 7th, 2021 at 7:00 am
Roy T, I always see that same thing (Brady under pressure) I can’t think of ANY QB who doesn’t look like crap under pressure. That’s pretty much what we did to Rodgers when we beat Green Bay
January 7th, 2021 at 7:13 am
I can’t wait!
January 7th, 2021 at 7:32 am
Even if Mike Evans can’t play Saturday, Brady has enough firepower remaining to beat the Redskins PROVIDING that our OLine does their thing … pass protects AND run blocks. Washington’s defense is vulnerable IF we keep them off-balance with a good mixture of runs & passes.
Alex Smith may be hurting, but he’s put together 5 wins in a row (they lost the 2 games that he missed in December). It’s HOW he did it that’s intriguing:
o Bengals (win 20-9): Washington ran the ball 34 times (164 yds) and passed 25 times (166 yds), taking 2 sacks. That’s a 56% run-pass ratio. Smith completed 68% of his passes, with 1 TD & 1 INT. Bengals had a 27% run-pass ratio, but Burrow only passed for 52% for 1 TD & 1 INT. Washington won the TO Battle (2-1) & the TOP (31-29), holding Bengals to 3 conversions in 15 3rd/4th down attempts.
o Cowboys (win 41-16): Washington ran the ball 36 times (182 yds) and passed 27 times (177 yds), taking 3 sacks. That’s a 55% run-pass ratio. Smith completed 74% of his passes, with 1 TD & 1 INT. Cowboys had a 32% run-pass ratio, and Dalton passed for 64% with 1 TD & 1 INT. Washington won the TO Battle (2-1) & the TOP (36-24), holding Dallas to 5 conversions in 17 3rd/4th down attempts. IOW, pretty much a replay of the Bengals game.
o Steelers (win 23-17): Washington ran the ball only 21 times (45 yds) and passed 46 times (296 yds), taking 3 sacks. That’s only a 30% run-pass ratio. Smith completed 67% of his passes, with 1 TD & 0 INTs. Steelers had a 21% run-pass ratio, and Roethlisberger passed for 47% with 2 TD & 1 INT. Washington won the TO Battle (1-0) & broke-even on the TOP (30 mins apiece), holding Steelers to 6 conversions in 17 3rd/4th down attempts. Different gameplan for Washington (much more passing) … 3 FGs for Washington made the difference.
o 49ers (win 23-15): Washington ran the ball 28 times (98 yds) and passed 32 times (108 yds), taking 2 sacks. That’s a 45% run-pass ratio. Smith completed only 47% of his passes, with 0 TD & 1 INT. 49ers had a 35% run-pass ratio, and Mullens passed for 55% with 1 TD & 1 INT. Washington won the TO Battle (3-1) but lost the TOP (32-28), holding 49ers to 4 conversions in 16 3rd/4th down attempts. Hard to believe that Washington won LESS than 200 total yards & 12 first downs, but that’s what a good defense can do for ya.
o Eagles (win 20-14): Washington ran the ball 27 times (103 yds) and passed 32 times (162 yds), taking 3 sacks. That’s a 44% run-pass ratio. Smith completed 69% of his passes, with 2 TD & 2 INT. Eagles also had a 44% run-pass ratio, and Hurts/Sudfeld passed for a lowly 39% with 0 TD & 2 INT. Washington won the TO Battle (3-2) & the TOP (31-29), holding the Eagles to 6 conversions in 16 3rd/4th down attempts.
So yes, Alex Smith has a 5-game winning streak going but realistically he’s not the reason why they won. Pretty much a game manager who doesn’t make a huge number of mistakes who relies heavily on their run game and dinks & dunks a lot.
The real story of that 5-game win streak is the Washington DEFENSE. It allowed only 71 total points in those 5 games (14.2 PPG average), and only 24 total 3rd/4th down conversions in 81 attempts … slightly less than 30%. In the process, they held opposing QBs to a 57% completion rate and opponents to only 75 YPG rushing average. Washington won the TO battle in every one of those games (11-5 overall). Tough defense; and yet, they lost NINE games on the season. This is gonna be smash-mouth football at its finest. Go Bucs.
January 7th, 2021 at 7:55 am
I hope Bowles is preparing for the back up because I think there’s a good chance Taylor Heinecke starts this game or plays most of it.
January 7th, 2021 at 8:10 am
Stop the run………play tight on pass coverage……tackle…..we win.
January 7th, 2021 at 8:36 am
This one is going to be more on the offense than defense. The Bucs defense is the best in the league against the run so if Washington runs the ball 25 times vs the Bucs, they will probably end up with 80-90 yards of offense in the running game. That’s a win for the Bucs because their pass defense is much worse than their rush defense.
Washington throws the ball short, Smith does not have much of a down-field game. The key on the Bucs defense is to tackle well. If you are going to give up 5-6 yard completions don’t let them turn into 15 yard run after catch. If there is one thing that has been most dissapointing about Buc D is the terrible tackling in the secondary.
So that leads back to the offense and BL’s play calling. The Bucs should play a Sean Payton offense, throw it short to Godwin and Brown and soften it up for double moves and then go downfield. Get Rojo 20 carries but not every first down! Use Vaughn as the relief valve. Lots of 2 double tight end sets with 2 WR’s. Stay with the short stuff in the first quarter to play keep away. Keep Brady upright and he’ll get them 24-28 points at Washington. Play good defense and hold Washington to 10-14 points. Don’t let them take a lead!
January 7th, 2021 at 9:37 am
Alex Smith’s wins sounds a lot like Tampa’s Bear game. Low score defensive struggle, ect. The Bucs would have won that game if we didn’t beat ourselves with penalties and/or the ref.s making bad calls
Our offense is playing way better now. Like most playoff games, this one won’t be easy. This game will be fun in to watch. Our team is pumped, their team is pumped, we are not beating ourselves anymore.
Bottom line:. One way or another, the BUCS WILL WIN!!!!!
January 7th, 2021 at 9:48 am
im more concerned about bowles and the defense….
foles looked like brees vs our defense….we couldnt stop c.kupp or robert woods vs the rams…
GO BUCS!!!!
January 7th, 2021 at 10:17 am
Cobrayboy
Exactly. BSPN and the gang thinking Chase Young is single handedly gonna Brady and the number four line for least sacks allowed. Tom had a face of a kid in a candy shop in his recent interview talking about the playoffs. Laughing WITH Chase Young because Tom loves the game and the hype and the challenge that much.
January 7th, 2021 at 11:29 am
Clean House.
PBK all day
NHC4LIFE
January 7th, 2021 at 11:31 am
PBK all day
January 7th, 2021 at 6:25 pm
Defense Rules, where are our stats? If this Bucs team cannot beat the WFT they don’t deserve to be called elite and move on. Brady has seen defenses far superior to this in the past with less offensive weapons. 35-17. Move on.
January 7th, 2021 at 9:46 pm
Hell yea. Soo stoked about Saturday. Especially with young talking trash. I hope we beat them even more now