This is typically a space reserved for me to focus on the Patriots, Bruins, Celtics and Red Sox. However, given what happened today in the 2021 NFC Championship Game, I simply had to add my two cents to all the hot takes that you'll inevitably be bombarded with over the next two weeks. Quarterback Tom Brady (20-of-36 for 280 yards, 3 TDs, 3 INTs) helped lead the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 31-26 win over Aaron Rodgers (33-of-48 for 346 yards, 3 TDs, INT) and the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. At age 43 and with a new team (that's been a joke for much of their existence), Brady has reached his record 10th Super Bowl where he'll meet superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes (29-of-38 for 325 yards, 3 TDs) and the Kansas City Chiefs who didn't have much trouble with the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship Game, 38-24 tonight at Arrowhead Stadium. The Bucs have earned this via three consecutive playoff wins on the road and would you believe that Super Bowl 55 will take place at their home stadium-Raymond James Stadium-on Sunday, February 7 (6:30, CBS). Tampa will be the first time in NFL history to ever appear in a Super Bowl that's on their home field.
It was not always pretty in Brady's first season with the Bucs and how could it be given that he changed teams after being with the Patriots for 20 years plus we're still in the middle of a pandemic. After heading into their bye week with a disappointing record of 7-5, Tampa Bay hasn't lost since then as they won the last four games of the regular season and they have gotten more impressive with each playoff victory. No matter how little we knew about the real story, it was obvious the last few years in New England that TB12 was done with head coach Bill Belichick's impossible to please attitude along with the general misery that permeates around the so-called greatest coach in league history. One year into the divorce, it's clear who the true winner is: Brady of course since he's one win away from his seventh Super Bowl title while Belichick has been sitting at home for weeks now (much like the rest of us) after a utterly disastrous 7-9 campaign.
We had always wondered who was more important to the Patriots' dynasty: Bill or Tom? Well now we have a resounding answer since Pats owner Robert Kraft reportedly wanted to keep Brady for his entire playing career (something which I would always balk at except in this very unique case) but Belichick was done with Tom. In his place, he assumed that he could pick any veteran quarterback off the scrap heap-in this case Cam Newton-pay him basically nothing and still somehow finish with his customary winning record, AFC East title and a trip to the playoffs. The reality of life without TB12 was harsh though as Newton regressed week after week and the team went 5-9 against teams other than the hopeless Jets. Meanwhile in Florida, with a complete boob for a head coach (Bruce Arians) and a talented but flawed roster that went 7-9 last season, Brady has remarkably managed to change their whole operation in less than a year on the job.
After a spectacular first half this afternoon where the Buccaneers led 21-10 at the break following Brady's 39-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Scotty Miller with one second left, he struggled in the second half. Still, Tampa's defense did just enough to hang on as the team reached the Super Bowl for the first time since 2002. The ironic part about this whole mess for the Patriots is that while TB12 appears to have a few more good years left in his ageless body, they remain without any sort of concrete plan for what to do at quarterback moving forward and as we've seen time and again, that's always a recipe for disaster in the NFL. You are all welcome to root for whomever you want but I really don't understand the stubborn Patriots fans that refuse to cheer for Brady after all the joy that he brought to our collective lives.
Seriously, I get the frustration with tight end Rob Gronkowski (1 catch, 29 yards) riding Brady's coattails to another Super Bowl after he weaseled his way out of here and fake retired for a year, but Tom didn't ask for this ending. New England made a fatal mistake by underestimating Brady's ability to still get the job done at a high level with new coaches and teammates not to mention in a different division and conference, etc. It goes without saying that I'll be pulling for Brady and the Bucs to finish this out on top. Not that he needs more motivation at this juncture but I feel like a Bucs Super Bowl crown would fully send Belichick into orbit and force him to finally spend more money in free agency than Bill the (terrible) GM typically prefers to do. It would be the ultimate kick in the pants to the Patriots to watch Brady make more history without them. He will be just the fourth QB to start a Super Bowl with two different clubs. Not that there's any reason to debate it but Tom is the greatest player in NFL history and for the record, this is the fourth time in the past five seasons that he's reached the Super Bowl and three of them were in his 40s (something that nobody else has ever done a single time). He was quarterback of the last team to win back-to-back Super Bowls-the 2004 and 2005 Patriots-and now he'll try to prevent KC from repeating as champions. Talk about a juicy matchup for Super Bowl 55, the league couldn't have scripted it any better if they tried.
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