It would have been easy just to chalk it up to “new year, same old Buccaneers” as you watched Matty “Ice” Ryan trot in with the two-point conversion to close Tampa’s lead to a meager field goal.
Three things ought to have prevented that kind of thinking: 1. we still had the lead, 2. we had possession of the football, and, of course, 3. we had the GOAT-Tom Brady manning the controls.
Any other Buccaneer team, including the first half of last season, would make it a life and death struggle and usually die. See if you can remember how it was to have to play a team with an elite quarterback?
One of my all-time favorite QBs was Joe Montana. Sitting back and watching him take teams apart was time well spent back then. And there are many others, the Cowboys, the Colts, the Steelers, and of course the Patriots… If you have to play them, mark it with an L, cause it more than likely would be one.
Those types of teams are the first ones the bookies used to guess what a team’s record might look like at the end of the season. It’s why everyone is wanting to see not just who their team is going to play, but what the schedule looks like to see how the loss would affect the record. Do we get them out of the chute, or will we have a chance to build up some W’s before we have to take absorb an L?
Those days are a thing of the past, at least for another year or two. With Brady under center, we fans should feel certain that the team we are playing is the one that is most concerned. It’s a hard feeling to get used to, but the window of operation is not likely to be open for very long. Just think back to those previous “dynasty” teams. That’s the point we are at as a team right now.
So, no one should have worried too much when the Falcons were able to close the gap in the third quarter. For Atlanta, it’s a building year. Nothing shows that more than how Atlanta has played over the first two games. They were publicly embarrassed coming off that 32-6 whooping at the talons of the Eagles last week, so it stood to reason they would be ready for a fight. It would not be the first time Tampa was upset by Atlanta. So, we should have expected some fight, some kickback. Ryan would not suffer showing up badly two weeks in a row. Well, not if he could help it anyway.
Brady took the next possession got downfield and found Chris Godwin on a corner route for touchdown numero 5 on the day.
It then looked like the Buccaneers defense was going to have to stop Ryan and his friends. But very few people thought that stopping them on defense meant having safety Mike Edwards, by the way, have you heard he’s a “ball hawk”? grab two straight interceptions and take both of them back to the promised land.
With week one being so abysmal, I am certain week two is probably worse. Bad enough to have the picks, but having them turn into 13 points at the very end of the game is very demoralizing. Maybe Atlanta can get a W next weekend.
In the meantime, we have a week of preparation before we go play the Los Angeles Rams. Last year, before the curve, the Rams beat us. This year, after the curve from Bucs mediocre to Bucs extraordinaire, it should be a fun game. Stay strong with your beliefs, this game is merely a test to see if the 2021 Buccaneers are the real deal.
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