In a truly strange turn of events, during the third quarter of the Bucs win against the lowly New York Jets, the often controversial wide-receiver known affectionately by Bucs fans as “AB” (Antonio Brown) decided to walk off the field and leave the Jets stadium. This is coming right after a mini-meltdown by Brown on the sidelines. Brown has had a history of “keep-you-on-your-toes” behavior, but this takes the cake.
In videos, you can see Brown quickly take his pads off after fellow Bucs teammate Mike Evans does his best to calm Brown down. Brown has none of it and decides to walk away altogether. While watching this unfold I was reminded of the movie “ELF”, when Michael Caine decides to leave his job’s meeting after his son coaxes him too. Maybe Brown watched this scene and took it to heart; who knows?
Aside from that, the Jets really surprised me this game and made it closer than it should’ve been for the Buccaneers. Zach Wilson, the rookie Quarterback looking to build a name for himself in New York, got off to a hot start and the Jets went up 7-0. At one point during the game (ironically during AB’s meltdown) the Jets were up 24-10 on Tampa Bay. This was especially troubling considering that New York is one of the weaker teams in the league, compared to the Buccaneers who are playoff favorites.
With their backs against the wall, none other than Tom Brady found a way to get things going, leading the Buccaneers down the field for a 93-yard drive at one point, and establishing a rhythm that would carry on into the fourth quarter. Brady was at his best and certainly didn’t disappoint. Brady would have one of the best games of his season, going 34-50 for 410 yards and three touchdowns. With those three touchdowns, Brady would tie Aaron Rodgers as being the only quarterback with 3 or more seasons with 40 or more touchdowns.
With Brown not being much of an impact in this game (3 catches for 26 yards), the slack needed to be picked up by the other receivers on the team. Some solid performances came out of Rob Gronkowski (7 catches for 115 yards) and Cyril Grayson (6 catches for 81 yards). Mike Evans was making his return from an injury sustained against the Saints, and he looked great out there. Evans would be on the receiving end of 7 targets, catching 4 for 47 yards.
This Buccaneers season has been anything but dull. From surprise losses to mounting injuries to WR outbursts, the Buccaneers are the most viral team in football right now. Hopefully, they can put all these distractions behind them and just focus on their next game against the Carolina Panthers next Sunday.
This Tampa Bay team needs all the help it can get heading into the playoffs. With the significant amount of injuries to this team, everyone, and I mean EVERYBDOY, will need to step their games up in order for this team to get a fighting chance at going back to the SuperBowl game. Today’s game was too close to call, and it shouldn’t have been that way. Hopefully, the Buccaneers can draw some motivation from an unlikely source (Michael Jordan used to make up dramatic situations in his head to propel him during games). All I know is that with the season winding down, it is clear that the Buccaneers will have us, the fans, on the edge of our seats heading into the playoffs.
“Til next time!