Tampa Bay Buccaneers: This is where it all gets real!
The Buccaneers haven’t come all this way to merely be satisfied to make it to the Super Bowl. This is where the rubber meets the road and it all gets real.
The rubber is meeting the freakin’ road. This is what we’ve been hoping for all year. Ever since the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in a controversial signing of arguably the greatest quarterback to play the game, brought an actual chance at making a run for the Super Bowl.
Is there a chance in ‘you know what’ for this to actually happen? Come on, really? We’re talking a 7-9 team, just to make the playoffs and hopefully win ONE game would be a successful season. Oh sure, Tom Brady was 42 years old, going to be 43 at the start of the season. Can he still move? Will our O-Line keep him upright? Can he still throw the ball with zip and accuracy?
All valid questions. Just one good hard hit and he’s out, and here we go again, another wasted acquisition. All very possible. But what Tom Brady brought, other than his proven talent, was his winning mentality, his approach to the game, and his never quit attitude. And let’s not forget, he never, ever, EVER backs down.
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All we could hope for was what happened, Brady didn’t get hurt, thanks in big part to the O-Line. He brought major accountability to this team, and the organization as a whole. You would think guys making millions of dollars to play a game, and be lucky enough to make it in the NFL, would already have that mindset.
But sadly, as we’ve seen before from trades made in the past, that just isn’t always the case.
The chances of a winning season at least were there. Most of us thought the Bucs would reasonably go 9-7 or maybe, just maybe, get 10 wins. It was possible. VERY possible. But realistic? Man that was a hard pill to swallow. Optimists thought yes. Realists were hoping, but resorted to thinking maybe 8 or 9 wins.
As we started to resign to that fact, something started to happen, even with that horrific loss to Brees and the black and gold. Our O-line was keeping the GOAT on his feet, becoming one of most stingy at allowing QB pressures and sacks in the league.