You can lead a Super Bowl contender to the stadium but you can’t make them win

Players and Coaches alike looked like Deer caught in the head-lights

The Buccaneers had no answer for what the Saints were throwing at them and the Coaches were as lost as the players. It was very close to that last week. If not for an interference call against Antoine Winfield Jr. being waved off, the Bucs were probably toasted against the Giants. Two weeks in a row, the Giants and then the Saints in a big way had the Buccaneers figured out and make no mistake about it, there was no plan B. Before the Bucs abandoned the running game against the Saints, RoJo had looked pretty good. Jones finished with five carries on the night. The Saints created the perfect storm against the Bucs and Arians/Bowles/Leftwich. They put pressure on Brady, and without Marpet, it was clear the Offensive line was not the same. The Saints kept after him all game cutting down the amount of time that Brady had to make his reads and deliver the football. This is the very thing I’ve been worried about. Our O-line had been playing over their heads for a while and I knew they were bound to come back down at some point.

Just show up, and eat the Double U!!

I believe there were several reasons we lost that game so badly. Payton and defensive coordinator Dennis Allen just had their team much better prepared. We were out-prepared, out-hustled, out-witted, and out-coached. Another question would be, did Arians and staff panic leading to abandoning the run too early? I don’t know about you, but I saw defenders arm tackling and letting runners gain another five to ten after contact. Ho-hum play that I thought was very telling in why we were getting stepped on. To me, that side of it is on culture. You have to play with the same intensity no matter the Opponent, home or away. It’s called taking care of business, and the Bucs seemed like they thought all they had to do was show up and eat the Double U! With one of the most talented teams in its history and the G.O.A.T. at quarterback. These Bucs managed to let their biggest rival in all football hang an unforgettable and historic branded L right on Brady’s forehead. Surely the G.O.A.T. will bounce back from this large bump in the road, fingers crossed.

All is not lost. History is on our side!

So as we sat in our favorite chair watching the massacre as the loss slowly covered our bodies like molasses and honey. I had a thought, have there been other great teams get their rear ends handed to them on a silver platter and then go on to win the Super Bowl? Yes, yes, there has been. In the last twenty years, there have been eight teams that got blown out by twenty or more points on their Super Bowl runs. It appears that three times our Tom Brady was quarterbacking one of those teams below. So there you go. Tom’s an old hand at this.

 Some teams in the past 20 years that have lost in the regular season by 20 or more points and went on to win a Super Bowl:

• 2001: Patriots lost 10-30 to the Dolphins in week 4
• 2003: Patriots lost 0-31 to the Bills in week 1
• 2007: Giants lost 17-41 to the Vikings in week 12
• 2011: Giants lost 24–49 to the Saints in week 12
• 2012: Ravens lost 13-43 to the Texans in week 7
• 2018: Patriots lost 10-34 to the Titans in week 10

All of the above teams were able to dig down deep and set their teams back onto the yellow brick road to the Super Bowl. We are still sitting at 6-3 and control our own destiny. Players and coaches alike need to step back and take a look at what is at stake here. There aren’t that many chances afforded to make it to a Super Bowl. Tampa Bay certainly doesn’t get many shots at it. So they need to figure this thing out and get it straightened out now before it’s too late. The one mistake they could make is taking this loss too lightly. It is what it is, and what it is, is very ugly indeed. Here’s to righting the ship. Go Bucs!!