If you have looked at the NFL stats, you know the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are legitimate. There are many great franchises remaining in the 2021-22 playoffs, but they all pale compared to Tampa Bay.
The Buccaneers get a lot of hype because of the GOAT, Tom Brady. This is for good reason, as the Buccaneers have gone from the bottom of the NFC to Super Bowl champs since Brady arrived. However, the Buccaneers have a lot of great qualities that will result in another Super Bowl.
Starts with Brady
Even though Brady is not the sole piece, he is a critical factor in Tampa Bay’s success. Considering the GOAT is 44 years old, he is playing better than any signal-caller in the game. It does not look like he will win the MVP over Aaron Rodgers.
Although, he will still finish in the top few spots, which is amazing at his age. Brady has been even better this season than he was when he led Tampa Bay to the Super Bowl. The Buccaneers also look stronger at this point in time than last year.
In Brady’s first postseason game this year against the Eagles, he was 29 of 37 for 271 yards for two touchdowns and no interceptions. This was no surprise with the Eagles’ secondary, but it’s amazing Brady continues to dominate in the playoffs.
It has been another year of dominance for Brady, and if you look at his Wild Card stats, it was actually a bad day for the quarterback. This season Brady has completed 67.5 percent of his passes for 5,316 games and started all 17 contests in the regular season.
He was sacked just 22 times, which is remarkable for a quarterback who is not very mobile. What separates Brady from the pack is his smartness in the pocket. He is averaging 317.5 yards per game, and his TD to INT ratio was 43:12.
The Defense
Brady is the centerpiece of the Buccaneers for multiple reasons. Yet, the defense and the team’s ability to play complementary football has allowed them to prosper this year. The defense has excelled in the front seven and been way better than expected against the pass.
The pass rushers and run stoppers on this defense are scary. The unit is led by Devin White, Lavonte David, and Shaquil Barrett. White and David have been animals at linebacker with a combined 150 tackles.
Barrett has been the main man when it comes to getting after the quarterback. He has ten sacks this season because of his ability to use his hands. The three of these linebackers have been stout and tough for offensive lines to handle.
The leadership on defense and offense has helped the Buccaneers become masters of playing complementary football. The Buccaneers have scored 63 touchdowns this season compared to their opponents with 39.
The team is also +10 in the turnover margin, which equates to many wins. Every statistical category favors the Buccaneers over their opponents, and this is why they cruised to an NFC South title.
Now, they must go through the Rams and then likely the Packers if they take care of business against the Niners. However, if you ask the Buccaneers, they are solely focused on Los Angeles.
The Rams present a lot of difficulties for the Buccaneers, but it all revolves around shutting down Matthew Stafford. The Rams want to throw the football, and the best way for Tampa Bay to neutralize this is to sack Stafford.
Stafford has the reputation of a playoff quarterback after winning one game, which is very disrespectful for players like Brady. I expect the Buccaneers to score points on Sunday, but this game will come down to who can win when Tampa Bay’s defense is on the field.
Based on what the defense has done this season, it’s easy to pick the Buccaneers to advance to the NFC Championship Game.