Perhaps the Buccaneers world got a little ahead of itself when it started comparing the 2022 defense to the one that dominated the NFL in the early 2000s.
Hindsight always changes the picture. It was easy to get caught up in the hype of the Buccaneers defense that held Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs to a mere nine points in the Super Bowl.
In the grand scheme of magical accomplishments by this roster over the past few years, holding one of the best offenses of all time to zero total touchdowns is nothing short of a miracle.
The defense showed up that night in a way that will never be forgotten, but let’s not start to make one game out as a true determinant of growth of talent.
Any unit, player, or team can be good for one game. Looking back at that defense and the comparisons that came out in regards to the ones from the early 2000s, hindsight now paints that performance as the outlier, not the norm.
Buccaneers Super Bowl MVP Dexter Jackson completely understands the difference between a great unit and a good one that has a great moment in the following quote Tweeted out by Greg Auman.
“We did it for years,” Dexter Jackson says, asked which defense was better between Bucs’ two Super Bowl championship teams. Lavonte David says “hopefully we work toward that.” Says the ‘02 Bucs set the standard for all Bucs defenses.
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) May 13, 2022
This isn’t throwing shade at the 2020 team, but everyone on the planet should be able to see how the early 2000s were a different time for the defense in Tampa. Years of dominant performances outweighs one single excellent moment.
The consistency was there. That 2002 group did have better injury luck, but even the healthy Buccaneer defense got shredded en route to the Super Bowl in 2020.
There are some great names on the Buccaneers right now that should be able to help push this defense to new levels in 2022, but let’s not start rewriting history now and disrespecting one of the best defenses of all time by comparing it to one that barely made a case as a top-10 unit outside of one magical game.
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