Tom Brady of the Tampa Bay Bucs QB believes that as they get ready for the New Orleans Saints game, the team’s best is still “ahead of us.”
The Bucs won their first NFC South division title in 2021 with a 13-4 record, and Brady’s seventh Super Bowl victory in 2020. Although they are once again in first place this season, their 5-6 record is disappointing.
Brady said to reporters prior to Monday night’s game against the New Orleans Saints (4-8) – which will air live on Sky Sports NFL starting at 1:20 a.m. on Tuesday – that “football is a very humbling game for all of us.” Nothing is something you can take for granted.
Sometimes, I enter there believing that I am the worst quarterback in history, and that’s just the way it is. You make an effort to return the following day and perform better, and you are rewarded with it. It’s just the nature of football.
“Thus, everything seems terrible when you’re losing, and everything seems wonderful when you win—even though that’s not always the case.
“There’s a long season ahead for all of us and still a lot of football left to be played and hopefully our best is ahead of us.”
“You have to go out there and earn it; hope is not a strategy,” he continued. You must carry it out.
“It’s crucial for all of us to understand that everything will depend on how we perform in the remaining six games.
“Everyone, every team encounters unique challenges, and we have encountered many of them in various ways. We’ve experienced some incredible victories as well as some really difficult defeats.
“Believe me when I say that nobody likes that we’re 5-6. None of it is something we’re celebrating.
“The thing we can do about it is this week we can try to go out and play the way we’re capable of playing.”
With 3,051 passing yards going into Week 13, Brady is fourth in the NFL behind only Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Joe Burrow. Nonetheless, according to NFL Research, the Bucs have the lowest-ranked rushing offense in the league and have only averaged 18.2 points per game this season. They have also scored fewer than 24 points in 10 of their 11 games.
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Additionally, Monday night’s visit from the Saints—a defense that has struggled against Brady since he left the New England Patriots for Tampa Bay in 2020—is not ideal. Four straight regular season games in Tampa have been won by New Orleans, including 38-3 and 9-0 victories in 2020 and 2019 respectively.
“We’re going against a team that’s a very good team, and they’re not going to let us off the hook,” Brady stated. “They’re not going to give us easy throws, easy runs, or touchdowns. They will put us to the test. They always act in that manner.”
“We’re going to have to take care of the ball and make the plays when they’re there,” he continued.
“We’re not losing with a point total of zero. We’re probably not winning, as evidenced by our three-point score. Thus, we must perform well and target the individuals present.”
The offensive group for Tampa Bay is the same as it was the previous year, led by players like Leonard Fournette, Chris Godwin, and Mike Evans. However, injuries have contributed to the offense’s difficulties, as all of the players—including rookies Julio Jones and Russell Gage—have missed one or two games.
The fact that All-Pro offensive tackle Tristan Wirfs is the most recent player to suffer an ankle injury in Week 12 and is likely to miss three or four games does not help their situation.
Cameron Jordan, a defensive end for the Saints who has faced the Bucs in 23 games and recorded 17 sacks and 18 tackles for loss, emphasized that New Orleans’ prior success against Brady is meaningless.
“You have a man who is an accomplished winner. There’s this guy you know who wakes up in the morning thinking he’s going to win, right? That makes that our main foe,” Jordan remarked.
“As for analytics, I have no idea, but every game is really important to us. To win this game is dire.
“Who the opponent is is irrelevant. We need to win right now to avoid ending up outside of the playoffs, which is where we were at the end of last year. And we don’t want to be there.
