By Michael J Basile, @MdoubleJB
The Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New York Football Giants have something important in common.
Fresh Take number 1:
The Buccs dominated the line of scrimmage. Their defensive front overwhelmed the Chief’s offensive line. The Bucs big boys up front did their job, to the tune of 145 yards. Running backs Leonard Fournette and Ronald Jones each averaged over 5 yards per carry. The offense allowed only one sack. Believe it or not, this formula resembled watching the GMen this season.
The Bucs roster is superior to the Giants, the philosophy is still the same,. The Giants were in so many close games solely from their tenactious defensive front. They made opposing offenses uncomfortable. On offense, specifically in the second half of the year, they began controlling the clock and running the ball more effectively.
The point is the Giants are building toward something that works, building from the inside out. With a productive draft and free agency period, I think the GMen are a lot closer than people think. The playoffs are close.
Fresh Take number 2:
GOAT talk is fun, but Mikey Fresh Hot Takes are better. Three of my thoughts on Brady’s recent success.
1. Brady’s career has been so incredible, it’s flat out silly and premature to try to guess what Mahomes needs to do to catch him in that discussion.
Please let’s let careers play out before making proclamations.
2. Mahomes doesn’t deserve criticism for the loss. If you watched the game, you know he hit receivers in the helmet, in the endzone. The line was manhandled.
3. The notion that Brady is the only reason they win the Super Bowl is crazy. The way people talk about the Buccaneers, you would think Brady took over the 0-16 Browns. The Buccs were 7-9 last year with 6 of their losses being by 1 score, and many of those attributed to Jamies Winston turning the ball over at a record pace. The roster was ready to win as long as whenever played QB didn’t throw 30 interceptions again.
Alright I got that off my chest. Now we stare down some dead time before free agency and draft talk ramps up.