Final year of Tom Brady with New England Patriots similar to 2022

Tom Brady, Tampa Bay Buccaneers Mandatory Credit: Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports
Tom Brady, Tampa Bay Buccaneers Mandatory Credit: Paul Rutherford-USA TODAY Sports

The potential final season for Tom Brady with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers looks eerily similar to his final season with his last team.

The writing is pretty much on the wall at this point. This is looking like it very well could be the final season for Tom Brady in a Tampa Bay Buccaneers uniform. Let’s just call it like it is. Brady and the Buccaneers will most likely be going their separate ways after the 2022 NFL season, due to the GOAT being an unrestricted free agent, or him just deciding to retire from the game of football all together, but like, for real this time.

The surreal thing is, should this be his last season with the Bucs, it’s almost identical to his final season with the New England Patriots in 2019 in a lot of ways. History always has a way of repeating itself. Let’s dive in.

For starters, both seasons had Brady adjusting to life without Rob Gronkowski to throw to, and it was evident on the field in both seasons. Granted, the supporting cast of the 2022 Buccaneers is far better than what was around Brady with the 2019 Patriots, which makes the struggles of the Bucs offense that much more frustrating.

Another thing is, the Patriots were defending Super Bowl champions in 2019. While the Bucs won their Super Bowl with Brady in 2020, they still came darn close to getting back in 2021, and were seen as contenders coming into 2022. In both cases, Brady and his boys limped into the playoffs to host a Wildcard game, as a product of a weak division. Of course, we don’t know what will happen when the Bucs take the field against the Carolina Panthers, but if they take care of business this time around (unlike last time) both results will mirror each other.

It remains to be seen what will happen if the Buccaneers squeak into the playoffs, but if 2019 is anything to go by, it won’t be pretty. The 2019 Patriots were upset by the Tennessee Titans, with Brady’s final pass with the Patriots, and in Foxboro, being a pick six to current Buccaneers defensive back Logan Ryan. You starting to see how the stars are aligning here?

At the end of the day, we don’t know what we don’t know. So much can happen between no and playoff time. Such is life in the NFL. Having said that, when Tom Brady is your quarterback, anything is possible, and that means anything. It doesn’t always necessarily mean positive things. Time will tell how similar the 2022 Tampa Bay Buccaneers and 2019 New England Patriots seasons end up being.

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