The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are reigning Super Bowl champions. No one is or can dispute that. And yes, Tom Brady once again shocked the world once again to pull off the impossible. With the dominant defense coming together at the right time, the Buccaneers pulled off one of the greatest runs in NFL history. This was for the 2020 pandemic season. Unlike any other. Nonetheless, the Bucs won when it counted. And they deserved the title.
Saints Deserve to be Favorites to win NFC South in 2021
However, there is little confidence for me — the Buccaneers should be the favorites in the NFC South in 2021. More importantly, the Bucs have won over most of the media going into the 2021 season as being not only the NFC South favorite but winning the NFC as a whole. This is what the media does every year. Moreover, most of the magazines (if you can find any) pick the Buccaneers to make another run to another Super Bowl come 2022.
Let’s reverse this for a second. For the sake of history, look back before the 2020 season kicked off. And early on too. The New Orleans Saints were considered Super Bowl contenders from early on. At the time, no one knew Drew Brees would hang them up after the season was over. The Saints did lose to the Tamp Bay Buccaneers 30-20 in a very close game — being tied at 20 apiece heading into the fourth quarter.
Tom Brady will Eventually Expire
After a couple of interceptions, the Bucs sealed the win. And in the playoffs, they won on the road three times in a row — even knocking off the Green Bay Packers in Lambeau 31-26. Still, there is no absolute certainty the Bucs will steamroll everyone in the NFC and the division. Tom Brady turns 44 years old on August 3rd this year. Brett Favre made it to 41 and barely survived his last game against the Saints back in 2009. Warren Moon played till he was 44 years old but barely took any snaps after turning 42. Joe Montana left way before the age of 40 at 38.
Still, with statistics on occasion, there are outliers. Always an outlier. And Tom Brady has already proved the numbers wrong once, twice, or more. Still, the body of a 44-year old is nothing to sneeze at. He is not made of liquid metal. He is not a machine. And as far as we know, Brady is not the modern-day terminator. He will expire at some point. And even if Brady somehow escape another season without major injury, this team stood at 7-5 heading into the bye week.
The Saints on the other hand stood at 10-2. consistently beating opponents even without Drew Brees. Although the Saints dropped a couple of games against the Chiefs and Eagles on the road, the Saints owned the Buccaneers during the regular season. Just a few weeks before their playoff matchup, the Saints destroyed the Bucs 38-3. And that game was in Tampa. That was then and this is now. Also, the NFL decided to add a 17th game this year for whatever ungodly reason to confuse all of us.
Media’s Obsession on Picking the Easy Odds on Favorite
Regardless, the bandwagon is in full-blown activation. The Buccaneers going on an eight-game winning streak was impressive. Make no mistake, they earned their way to the top. Be that as it may, this team is in no way is the overwhelming favorite in my book. Prognosticators will point to all the reasons the Bucs are simply too talented.
Many of these same experts gave up on the Bucs after Week 12. And not only that, the Saints were picked as the easy favorite to make the NFC Championship at least.
The fact is, no one knows. There are plenty of questions for the Saints too. Number one is at quarterback. And by no means are the Saints Super Bowl favorites by any means. But winning a division four years in a row counts for something. And until another team wins the NFC South, the Saints are the favorites to win the division. Don’t listen to the common theme of following where the wind is blowing.
Main Photo: Embed from Getty Images
