Road To Super Bowl 55: Recap Of the Bucs’ 2020 NFL Performance

TAMPA, FLORIDA – OCTOBER 04: Tom Brady #12 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers celebrates after defeating the Los Angeles Chargers after a game at Raymond James Stadium on October 04, 2020 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by James Gilbert/Getty Images)

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers headlined every sporting news article last year after Tom Brady announced he had signed a contract with the team across his social media accounts. Adding more excitement to this once-in-a-lifetime sporting event, the GOAT even convinced his best friend and teammate Rob Gronkowski, to join him in warmer Florida where their home games would be played at Raymond James Stadium, also the host of Super Bowl 55. Super Bowl LV is the first time in NFL history a team will play in their own stadium in the Big Game. All this thanks in main part to Brady.

The Bucs contract with Tom Brady sent the league a message that another awesome NFL story was happening for a team that last made the playoffs in 2007. Brady is expected to be with the Bucs for two years as stated on his contract so he’s definitely not retiring after the game on Sunday and heading with his family to Disneyland in retirement. The GOAT is a six-time Super Bowl winner and heads to the Big Game for a record tenth time, and his first for the Buccaneers. Loyal fans have high hopes with Brady on their side and they should, except that the QB on the other team is Patrick Mahomes, leading his high-powered Chiefs on a direct course to back-to-back SB wins.

FOXBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS – DECEMBER 08: Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots talks with Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs after the Chief defeat the Patriots 23-16 at Gillette Stadium on December 08, 2019 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Here is the recap of their best games throughout the season to help understand how much the Bucs have improved under Brady.

Regular Season

The Bucs, with Brady, started live-action during the regular season as the team did not play any preseason games on the 2020-21 NFL schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The first week didn’t look so good for the Bucs as they lost 34-23 against the Saints.

The Bucs recovered Week 2 after dominating the NFC South matchup against the Panthers, yet the must win came despite having to overcome a 14-point deficit. They also won week 3 and the week 4 game against the Chargers.

Perhaps the Bucs most impressive achievement during the regular season was the week six game against the NFC’s top team, the undefeated Green Bay Packers. The Bucs won handily 38-10 over the Packers sending a message to the league about their intentions to win SB LV with Brady leading the way.

Aside from Brady and Gronk, other players have also contributed to the team victories. Let fans not forget about Jamel Dean on the defense when he intercepted a pass attempt by the probable MVP, Aaron Rodgers, at the early part of the second quarter, running the pick back 32 yards, setting up Brady and the offense to their first touchdown score.

The interception made by Dean changed the game’s Big Mo in favor of the Bucs who then hit the gas after Tyler Johnson caught a touchdown pass by Brady, who then threw another TD to Gronk. Ronald Jones II ran in two touchdowns putting him the the leagues top five for rushing yards.

The Bucs ended up as the second seed in the NFC going 11-5, only one win short of the top seeded team and division rivals, the New Orleans Saints, who went 12-4. It was a close call for the Bucs to end the season without the the top seed so they settled for a second seed making it necessary to play and win in the wild card playoff round. Only the top teams in the AFC and NFC earned first round byes, the Chiefs and Saints, respectively.

Pandemic Wild Card Round

It was win or go home in the wild card round versus the team from Washington, earning the winner a spot in the divisional round of the playoffs. The fortunes of the Bucs lay on the shoulder of Brady and he was up to the task.

The Bucs won against Washington on the road in DC, 31-23. Brady led his team and the city of Tampa to victory once again as only he could do at age 43, tossing for 381 yards and two touchdowns. This was another clear sign Brady could win the big one without the help of New England Patriots Head Coach, Brian Belichick. The Bucs finally looked among the best teams in the league again. Having one of the best quarterbacks of all time on their side was a competitive edge like no other in NFL history.

Divisional Round

In the divisional round, the Bucs were set to face the Saints once again. During the regular season, the Bucs and the Saints faced each other twice, first during Week One, and next during Week Nine. The Buccaneers lost both those games but it hard to beat a NFL team three times in a season making the divisional round face-off something fans all over the nation and world looked forward to. The week nine game was the most frustrating loss for the Bucs against the Saints because they only mustered 3 points while the Saints put up a dazzling 38. It was a embarrassingly huge deficit and a bitter disappointing loss for the franchise, while also serving as motivation.

As many betting experts predicted, the table turned and the Bucs dominated the loser out game against the Saints. The Bucs’ fate had truly reached a new level of expectations with analytics and luck on their side since the wild-card game. Or, was is it just confident Tom Brady and his determined, hungry and focused teammates feeding off his leadership that made this all possible? For most fans, it was a mix of both as well the defense finally coming back alive down the stretch. Aside from having the best team and players in the NFC, luck might also be in the Bucs favor thanks to Captain Brady.

Conference Championship

This season’s most surprising result was the NFC championship game where the Buccaneers once again faced the red hot Green Bay Packers. Although the Bucs had already beat the Packers in their Week 6 matchup, the Pack were still a steady favorite alongside the always favored, Kansas City Chiefs.

This Super Bowl 2021 matchup projection was between the Packers and the Chiefs. However, that’s not how this fairy tale of a story ended. Once again, the Bucs dominated the Packers in the NFC championship, defeating the number one seed by a close 31-26 margin. This surprising result rocked the sports betting world as it marked a huge shift for Super Bowl betting going forward.

The Bucs are the home team at Raymond James Stadium this Sunday, February 8, 2021. How much that matter is yet to be seen. After winning the NFC Championship against the Packers, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be the first team to play the Super Bowl in their home stadium and possibly be the first team to win the Super Bowl in it as well, if luck, or Brady, or both, will have it. Chiefs fans are not relying on luck.

Takeaway

With impact players on offense like the wide receiver trio of Mike Evans, Chris Goodwin and a healthy Antonio Brown, who missed the last Packers game, together with the teamwork the Bucs have displayed throughout the 2020-21 NFL season, there is a solid chance they will win Super Bowl 55. Buccaneers’ and Chiefs’ fans are expected to fill the stadium with 25,000 screaming people along with 30,000 cutouts giving high hopes to the home team that the Super Bowl is theirs to win. Bucs Head Coach, Bruce Arians, is one of my favorite coaches as is Andy Reed, Head Coach for the Chiefs. As a result, no team has a clear X and O advantage in my mind, unless Tom Brady is your QB, because he is like a coach on the field and then some.

TAMPA, FLORIDA – JANUARY 31: An aerial view of Raymond James Stadium ahead of Super Bowl LV on January 31, 2021 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Sports Techie, Tom Brady is the GOAT and in many ways, his mind is like a super fast gaming computer where the rest of the league has flip phones playing QB, unless you are the Chiefs who have an eSports legend in the making, Patrick Mahomes, leading the way.

As much as I respect Brady’s many NFL accomplishments, I say go Chiefs even though I hope they change the offensive team name and mascot to many Native Americans, soon.

Tampa Bay will keep it close but I predict Kansas City wins, 32-31. If you take the points at KC -3, Brady will actually win the game for punters in my humble estimation.

But can he do it straight up?

See you later sportstechie in Seattle, Atlanta and around the world!

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