Ever since it was announced that Tom Brady would be leaving the New England Patriots to join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, I've been set on the idea that the 2020 Bucs are destined for their first postseason berth since 2007. Heck, I still think it's fair to call them the favorites out of the NFC.
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So, it came as quite a shock to me to learn that quite a few people think that Tampa Bay will miss the playoffs with Brady at the helm. ESPN's Dianna Russini even made a bold prediction on Get Up that Tampa will fall short of expectations in 2020, an idea that was greeted with agreement throughout the studio. Now, Dianna does excellent work for our friends over at ESPN, and I respect all that she does in the NFL world, but I strongly disagree with this one.
I believe that the Buccaneers should be considered in the same tier of teams as the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens. Here are three key reasons why I think the Bucs are among the NFL's elite.
1. TOM BRADY IS STILL A VERY, VERY GOOD QUARTERBACK
The box score stats might say otherwise, but Brady was still very much a top-10 quarterback from our perspective, producing an 80.5 PFF grade in regular-season play that ranked 10th at the position. And while he may not have played to the level that we have all grown accustomed to, some of the reason for the drop-off in passing performance was due to the lackluster receiving unit in New England last year.
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