NFL Game Of The Week: Tampa Bay Bucs at New England Patriots

Tom Brady and the 2-1 Bucs will pay a visit to Foxboro Sunday evening to take on the 1-2 Patriots. Brady parted ways with the Patriots after the 2019-2020 season and lead the Bucs to a Super Bowl win in Tampa Bay. The 43 year-old Brady threw for over 4,000 yards while posting 40 TDs on the season, plus one sweet completed pass of the Lombardi trophy from one boat to another during the Super Bowl parade. He'll return with a Bucs squad dealing with some injuries and coming off a tough loss to the Rams.  

The Pats went 6-10 in 2020, missed the playoffs, drafted Mac Jones, cut Cam Newton, swore that they didn't care about Brady's success and were definitely not in the mood for any boat parades during or after their season. They were also definitely not in a parade mood after last Sunday's 28-13 loss to the Saints in which Jones was sacked three times and threw three INTs. The loss dropped the Pats to 0-2 at home for the first time since the 2000 season. 

Through three games Jones has thrown for 737 yards, with two TDs and three INTs for a QBR of 50.2. A particularly troubling statistic from Sunday: he was 3-of-19 with one TD and one INT when attempting to throw 15 yards or further down the field. He's experiencing rookie struggles, but Jones has talent around him. RB Damien Harris (45 ATT, 146 YDS), WR Jakobi Myers (19 REC, 176 YDS) and WR Nelson Agholor (10 REC 110 YDS) can make plays. Unfortunately between the three of them, they only have two touchdowns on the season. RB James White actually leads the team in receptions with 12, but he suffered a hip injury in Sunday's loss and is out indefinitely. The Patriots will plan to get Harris more work in the passing game and hope that he breaks a few catches for big gains. 

Pats' opponents are currently putting up an average of 17 points a game against them, good for 28th in the league. They'll face a Bucs team that enters Sunday's game averaging 34.4 points a game. Defensive stalwarts like safety Devin McCourty (10 solo tackles, 1 INT), linebacker Dont'a Hightower (6 solo tackles) and linebacker Kyle Van Noy (4 solo tackles) will need to channel that championship mentality and be at the top of their game against a Bucs teams with a lot of weapons. 

Tampa Bay lost 34-24 to the Rams on Sunday, a team they could very well face in the playoffs. Brady was 41-of-55 for 432 yards and a TD, while rushing for another, but it wasn't enough. New Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford threw four TDs, as LA improved to 3-0. Speaking of Brady rushing for a TD, the nine-time Super Bowl champ lead the team in rushing with 14 yards on a day when the Bucs gained just 35 yards total on the ground. I get it, Brady is now so good he is supposed to attempt 50 plus passes a game AND be the lead running back. Oh what's that? Something about Playoff Lenny? Right, I forgot all about him there for a minute. 

It's not the playoffs, and I heard he doesn't particularly care for the nickname, but Leonard "Playoff Lenny" Fournette is actually still the Bucs' lead runner, even if he's averaging just 3.8 yards per carry through three games. Fournette carried four times for eight yards in Sunday's loss, mainly because the Bucs fell behind early. I don't expect that to happen against New England. Look for him to have a big game against the Patriots. 

Besides Fournette, the Patriots will have to watch out for another legendary former member of their team, TE Rob Gronkowski, who with a team-leading four TD catches this season, remains one of Brady's favorite targets. They'll also have WRs Chris Godwin (19 Rec, 241 YDS, 2 TDs) and Mike Evans (16 Rec, 206 YDS, 2 TDs) to contend with. 

The Bucs lost cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting to a dislocated elbow earlier this month, and cornerback Jamel Dean went down with a knee injury in Sunday's loss. It doesn't look to be serious, but the second-year corner out of Auburn, who has 13 tackles this season, will miss at least one game. The Bucs are expected to workout Richard Sherman on Tuesday in the hope that the veteran corner can provide some leadership in a young secondary. 

Mac Jones may feel confident enough to test the deep throw against the Bucs' banged-up backfield, but the defensive line will have him wishing he was back at Alabama playing FCS teams. You already know these guys, they harassed Patrick Holmes in Tampa last February, keeping the young quarterback and the Chiefs out of the end zone en-route to a Super Bowl win. Now they're back for more. Jason Pierre-Paul, Lavante David, William Gholston, Devin White, Ndamukong Su and company will be coming for Mac Jones no matter who's in the secondary. Welcome to the NFL kid. 

My prediction: The Patriots have too much pride to get blown out, but this much anticipated reunion will never be in doubt. The Bucs simply have too many offensive weapons and a tough, veteran defensive line that will make things very difficult for Mac Jones. 

Bucs 31- Patriots 16.