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ATLANTA — For everything Tom Brady has gone through in his extended NFL journey (rings, records, comebacks, etc.), these upcoming NFC playoffs represent new territory.
For the first time, Brady will enter the postseason with a team with a losing record.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-9) closed the gap on Sunday with a 30-17 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. Half full, half empty mark.
Until now, we’d have to go all the way back to 2002, the season after Brady came off the bench to replace the injured Drew Bledsoe. The season after winning Super Bowl XXXVI in New England, his Patriots finished with his 9-7 record.
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“I was part of a really good team, but I didn’t get very far. A good team that fought really hard and made it to the end,” Brady said. “So everything that has to do with us moving forward. I hope we learned a lot from what happened during the season. Now we can do our best.”
Translated: History lessons and footnotes are enough.
These Bucks won less than three straight games this season, but they took advantage of playing in the only division in the NFL with a record of all teams losing. And spotty ledger or not, they still have the pulse of the Dallas Cowboys coming to town for the first round of the NFC playoffs next weekend.
Perhaps these playoffs will be the final chapter for Brady, who announced his retirement last February and announced his retirement 40 days later. And maybe he won’t retire. He may be 45, but who says 7 Super Bowl rings are enough? But when I asked him if he would take the time to reflect and smell the roses during these playoffs, he wasn’t in the mood.
“I don’t think beyond winning one game,” Brady said.
No, it’s clear that Brady, not Rose, is thinking of a “clean slate” and the urgency of playoff football.
“The winning team is the team that played the best that day,” he added. “It’s not the team with the best record or home field. The team that played the best that day moves forward.”
The Bucs have shown a lack of consistency throughout the season, but they’re still a team you don’t want to face in the playoffs. He’s one of the reasons Brady’s postseason record is so big. He’s also been playing in a better rhythm in recent weeks with a wide receiving squad led by Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. , which could lead to new completion records.
But there are other factors that make the Bucks a tough playoff. This is a savvy team led by so many veterans who have been there and made it. Many of the players who were part of the illustrious Bucks defense that won Super Bowl 55 two years ago are still in the lead with a top-10 ranked unit. A season in which Brady’s receiving corps and secondary were particularly plagued with injuries.
Linebacker Devin White said, “Someone has been in this situation before.
White knows. Regardless of what has happened in the last four months, your mission now is to get hot at the right time.
“If we win every game by one point, if we win four straight, we can win the Super Bowl,” he said. “We can do anything. Coming here wasn’t the only goal. We didn’t play the way we wanted to be here, but we found a way to get in. It just shows resilience.”
According to the Fox graphics, the teams that made the playoffs with a record of .500 or less went 6-11.
And despite defeating the Cowboys in the last two season openers, the Bucks were down by three points in the opener.
This goes back to one of White’s earlier points.
“We like to be suspected and counted, but it doesn’t matter,” he said. “It’s just the people in the room that matter.”
Perhaps the Bucks and Brady have the NFC playoff field exactly where they want it. sleeping on them or otherwise.
As Brady says, “We’ve been battle-tested.”
The question has to do with how many battles you have left.
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