NFC Championship: Buccaneers @ Packers - Sunday, Jan 24th, 2:05 PM

[TURBO]

Packer-Chiefs in a repeat of SB I is pretty compelling story... moreso than Brady in the SB again.

 

You don't think that Brady leaving New England, and landing in the Super Bowl in his first year in Tampa, without Belichek is compelling to the sports world?

 

How many fans were around when Super Bowl I took place? The only reference to that game for most is media coverage and the history books. Everyone who is currently an NFL fan knows Tom Brady and his accomplishments. Having him leave the team he won numerous Super Bowls with, then go to the Super Bowl with another team the very next season, is monumentous sports coverage fodder. It will be covered relentlessly on the National Media, where as a Super Bowl I rematch will get a mention, but won't be as important or interesting nationally.

 

I realize you are all Packer fans, and there is nothing more important than the Packers in WI, but if anyone questions the interest level nationally of Brady back in the super bowl without the Pats and Bill B. over the rematch of Super Bowl I which took place 53 years ago, I think maybe the homerism has been taken too far.

 

I think it's homerism to think that the vast majority of fans nationally aren't sick of Brady and have no desire to see him in another Super Bowl.

 

I won't disagree with that in the least. Before he went to Tampa, the last thing in the world I wanted to see was he and the Pats in another super bowl. This is different, and to think it wouldn't be a bigger story than a rematch of Super Bowl I that tool place 53 years ago, when most fans weren't born, is just blatant homerism............................imo.

 

Like it or not, Brady in a Super Bowl without the Pats and Bill B is a HUGE sports story. That doesn't mean the average fan wants to see it, just that it is a gigantic national sports news story given Brady's past accomplishments.

[brewerfan82]

I think there are a lot of fans that would tune in hoping to watch Brady *lose* the Super Bowl. I know personally, when I don't have a clear horse in the race, I love having a villain to root against and Brady would bring that for a lot of fans across the country. Add to that the storyline of him parting ways with Belichick and taking the Buccaneers there in his first year, just cementing another reason he's the greatest QB of all time, I don't see how Brady in the Super Bowl wouldn't be a ginormous win for the NFL.

 

But that said, let's knock that guy out on Sunday and make this all a moot point! GO PACKERS!

[CheezWizHed]

I'm sure a lot of fans will root against Brady...I'm just not sure how many will tune in to root against him. Yes, Brady in TB adds a unique twist. But Brady has won and lost a lot of SBs and people are just tired of seeing him there.

 

Good thing it doesn't matter because the game isn't fixed by the NFL anyway.

[areacodes]

 

Honestly, when the OL plays well and we don’t turn it over there is probably not a team that can beat the Bucs outside of the Chiefs. Brady is simply on another level this year. If the OL keeps him upright and they don’t shoot themselves in the foot the offense is ridiculous.

 

Fixed.

 

I disagree that Brady is playing at a different level this year. I know passer rating isn’t everything but Brady is playing slightly over his career norms this year (102.2 vs 97.3) whereas Rodgers is significantly above his career norm (121.5 vs 103.9).

 

Rodgers is #1 in both passer rating and QBR and Brady is #9 in both as well.

 

The gap between Rodgers and #2 on the year (Deshaun Watson) in passer rating is almost as big as the gap between Watson and Brady.

[nodakfan17]

Yeah, Brady's back for 2022. I haven't seen any indication otherwise and he played very well. I don't think he even has a date in mind for retiring. As long as he is feeling good, I think he'll keep coming back. Still throws a nice deep ball too. Wouldn't surprise to see him playing at 48 at this point, if someone will have him.

Helps that the Bucs are projected to have the second easiest schedule in the NFL next year based on 2020 standings. Then factor in Brees’ retirement and the Saints’ cap mess. It’s like he’s back in the old AFC East! Wouldn’t that just be torture for Bills fans to lose a Super Bowl to Tom Brady?

[HiAndTight]

It doesn't really matter what the sports media wants either, they have no bearing on the outcome of the game. But it's not like they're getting Bears/Titans if they don't get the Brady/Mahomes bowl. The insinuation that Packers/Chiefs is an inferior marketing product compared to Bucs/Chiefs is weird to me. It's the State Farm Bowl. It's a rematch of Super Bowl 1. It's arguably the two most talented QBs in NFL history and the two best offenses facing off on the biggest stage. It's a matchup of two MVPs and two Super Bowl MVPs. It's an extremely marketable matchup and storyline.

 

Wait a minute, did you just anoint Mahomes as one of the best two QBs in NFL history? That might be a little premature maybe?

 

If you said Brady and Rodgers, that wouldn't have made me cringe, that is at least a formative argument, but Mahomes top two, EVER?

 

 

Saying Rodgers and Mahomes are arguably the two most TALENTED QB's in NFL history makes you cringe?

 

Mahomes is objectively more talented than Brady. It's not premature. If someone said it was the two greatest QB's of all time, that'd be premature, but Mahomes threw for 50 TD's his first year starting, won an MVP. Came back and dislocated his knee and won a Super Bowl MVP and in his third year would be on his 2nd MVP if not for one of the 3-4 greatest seasons in QB history and led his team to a 15-1 record.

 

He's pretty well established he's one of the most talented people to play the position.

[HiAndTight]

 

Honestly, when the OL plays well and we don’t turn it over there is probably not a team that can beat the Bucs outside of the Chiefs. Brady is simply on another level this year. If the OL keeps him upright and they don’t shoot themselves in the foot the offense is ridiculous.

 

Fixed.

 

Yup. Provided you don't allow the facts to get in the way.

[TURBO]

 

Honestly, when the OL plays well and we don’t turn it over there is probably not a team that can beat the Bucs outside of the Chiefs. Brady is simply on another level this year. If the OL keeps him upright and they don’t shoot themselves in the foot the offense is ridiculous.

 

Fixed.

 

Yup. Provided you don't allow the facts to get in the way.

 

I'm just saying, most of the comments I am seeing about what it will take to win this game can be said for both teams.

 

It's going to be awesome!

[thebruce44]

It doesn't really matter what the sports media wants either, they have no bearing on the outcome of the game. But it's not like they're getting Bears/Titans if they don't get the Brady/Mahomes bowl. The insinuation that Packers/Chiefs is an inferior marketing product compared to Bucs/Chiefs is weird to me. It's the State Farm Bowl. It's a rematch of Super Bowl 1. It's arguably the two most talented QBs in NFL history and the two best offenses facing off on the biggest stage. It's a matchup of two MVPs and two Super Bowl MVPs. It's an extremely marketable matchup and storyline.

 

Wait a minute, did you just anoint Mahomes as one of the best two QBs in NFL history? That might be a little premature maybe?

 

If you said Brady and Rodgers, that wouldn't have made me cringe, that is at least a formative argument, but Mahomes top two, EVER?

 

Is this the definition of a straw man? You bolded and put in red his original argument, then reframed it. Come on man.

[TURBO]

It doesn't really matter what the sports media wants either, they have no bearing on the outcome of the game. But it's not like they're getting Bears/Titans if they don't get the Brady/Mahomes bowl. The insinuation that Packers/Chiefs is an inferior marketing product compared to Bucs/Chiefs is weird to me. It's the State Farm Bowl. It's a rematch of Super Bowl 1. It's arguably the two most talented QBs in NFL history and the two best offenses facing off on the biggest stage. It's a matchup of two MVPs and two Super Bowl MVPs. It's an extremely marketable matchup and storyline.

 

Wait a minute, did you just anoint Mahomes as one of the best two QBs in NFL history? That might be a little premature maybe?

 

If you said Brady and Rodgers, that wouldn't have made me cringe, that is at least a formative argument, but Mahomes top two, EVER?

 

Is this the definition of a straw man? You bolded and put in red his original argument, then reframed it. Come on man.

 

ummmmm, I did?

[PeaveyFury]

 

Is this the definition of a straw man? You bolded and put in red his original argument, then reframed it. Come on man.

 

ummmmm, I did?

 

Yes, actually. He said:

 

"It's arguably the two most talented QBs in NFL history"

 

And you called him out, saying:

 

"did you just anoint Mahomes as one of the best two QBs in NFL history"

 

Not the same thing....

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

 

Is this the definition of a straw man? You bolded and put in red his original argument, then reframed it. Come on man.

 

ummmmm, I did?

 

Yes, actually. He said:

 

"It's arguably the two most talented QBs in NFL history"

 

And you called him out, saying:

 

"did you just anoint Mahomes as one of the best two QBs in NFL history"

 

Not the same thing....

 

Right. Not that it is true or I believe it, but you could logically make the argument that Jeff George is the most talented QB in NFL history. Dude had everything that a team looks for in a franchise NFL QB. There are also guys like Randall Cunningham who were just talent freaks of nature.

 

You are correct. "Most talented" and "best" are two entirely different arguments. Brady is far from the most talented, when you are talking about god-given athletic talent. But it's hard to argue that he isn't the best of all time.

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I don't think Brady is either one. His single greatest competitive advantage is that he was never paid like a superstar QB. His contracts never hamstrung the Patriots from getting pieces they needed. And it wasn't always selfless either, they got very lucky. When he signed one of the extensions, they had Jimmy G around and he knew that if he pushed things, they would just get rid of him. So he signed a very modest extension knowing it was either that, or play somewhere else.

 

All-time great, for sure, but that, and the dismal AFC east are major factors. You don't reach 13 conference titles games without something funky going on.

 

Lots of athletes say winning is their #1, but Brady walked the walk. He definitely could have made more money but didn't because he seemed to recognize the symbiotic relationship they had going on.

[nodakfan17]

Lots of athletes say winning is their #1, but Brady walked the walk. He definitely could have made more money but didn't because he seemed to recognize the symbiotic relationship they had going on.

It helps when your wife makes $70 million per year.

[Eye Black]

Thought this podcast offered some good insight into the match-up of the Packers offense versus Buccaneers defense...

 

The Touchdown Wire Conference Championship Preview Podcast with Doug Farrar and Mark Schofield

 

It's also available on Apple podcasts if you search "Doug Farrar"

[OldHeidelberg]

Brown out, hadn't realized he had emerged as a favorite target for Brady the last few games.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Brown out, hadn't realized he had emerged as a favorite target for Brady the last few games.

 

Not a huge loss for them, IMO. Tyler Johnson and Scotty Miller are both quality receivers. I do expect Alexander to shadow Godwin almost exclusively now, though. A key matchup is going to be King on Evans.

[PinaMadness]

I don't think Brady is either one. His single greatest competitive advantage is that he was never paid like a superstar QB. His contracts never hamstrung the Patriots from getting pieces they needed. And it wasn't always selfless either, they got very lucky. When he signed one of the extensions, they had Jimmy G around and he knew that if he pushed things, they would just get rid of him. So he signed a very modest extension knowing it was either that, or play somewhere else.

 

All-time great, for sure, but that, and the dismal AFC east are major factors. You don't reach 13 conference titles games without something funky going on.

 

Lots of athletes say winning is their #1, but Brady walked the walk. He definitely could have made more money but didn't because he seemed to recognize the symbiotic relationship they had going on.

It helps to be selfless when you're the only player in the NFL that has a wife that makes more money than you.

[homer]

Brown out, hadn't realized he had emerged as a favorite target for Brady the last few games.

 

Not a huge loss for them, IMO. Tyler Johnson and Scotty Miller are both quality receivers. I do expect Alexander to shadow Godwin almost exclusively now, though. A key matchup is going to be King on Evans.

 

Doesn't Godwin play in the slot? I don't think Alexander moves over the slot very often does he?

[OldSchoolSnapper]

I don't think Brady is either one. His single greatest competitive advantage is that he was never paid like a superstar QB. His contracts never hamstrung the Patriots from getting pieces they needed. And it wasn't always selfless either, they got very lucky. When he signed one of the extensions, they had Jimmy G around and he knew that if he pushed things, they would just get rid of him. So he signed a very modest extension knowing it was either that, or play somewhere else.

 

All-time great, for sure, but that, and the dismal AFC east are major factors. You don't reach 13 conference titles games without something funky going on.

 

Lots of athletes say winning is their #1, but Brady walked the walk. He definitely could have made more money but didn't because he seemed to recognize the symbiotic relationship they had going on.

It helps to be selfless when you're the only player in the NFL that has a wife that makes more money than you.

 

I mean, that's not even true, but I get why people keep bringing it up. I'm not sure it takes anything away from what he did. I'd still guess that most athletes would seek top dollar possible, regardless of how rich their wife is.

 

I think it's obvious in any case though that he placed a very high value on winning championships, and thought it was more important than signing "the biggest contract in NFL history" for one offseason. Like most of them do.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

Brown out, hadn't realized he had emerged as a favorite target for Brady the last few games.

 

Not a huge loss for them, IMO. Tyler Johnson and Scotty Miller are both quality receivers. I do expect Alexander to shadow Godwin almost exclusively now, though. A key matchup is going to be King on Evans.

 

Doesn't Godwin play in the slot? I don't think Alexander moves over the slot very often does he?

 

Watching them last week, Godwin did move into the slot in a few packages, but Brown was there much more frequently.

[Fear The Chorizo]

Late in the year, Brown was becoming a more consistent option in the Bucs' offense from the slot, so I think him missing the game is significant - the Bucs still have other options to throw to, they just aren't as deep. Brown had caught 5 TDs in his last 4 games before the knee injury in NO.

[OldHeidelberg]

Vita Vea activated

[Eye Black]

Vita Vea activated

I’m sort of fascinated to see how much he plays and how big of an impact he ends up being for the Bucs.

[homer]

Vita Vea activated

I’m sort of fascinated to see how much he plays and how big of an impact he ends up being for the Bucs.

 

I'm fascinated by his full name:

Tevita Tuli’aki’ono Tuipulotu Mosese Va’hae Fehoko Faletau Vea