Tag: Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Another chance and a sad end: Tampa Bay moves on

Dayna O’Gorman
Senior NFL Reporter
NFC West/AFC West

By Dayna O’Gorman // @DaynaOG

It was dubbed the “Old Man Battle”. Two quarterbacks, both over 40, both first-ballot Hall of Famers. But the Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs the New Orleans Saints game was about more than just aging QBs, it was about two teams with something to prove. A chip on their shoulders. Two teams that had been written off and came back swinging.

I’m not going to go over these men’s careers. As I said, Buccaneers QB Tom Brady and Saints QB Drew Brees are first-ballot Hall of Famers, we all know the impact they have made on the league. However this was more about the impact they could make in this particular game, and Brady came out on top.

During the regular season, it was New Orleans that had the upper hand in this matchup, winning 34-23 and 38-3. However, that was prior to Brees breaking 11 ribs and puncturing his lung. While his return to the field was miraculous and insanely fast, Sunday’s game showed that he wasn’t at full strength. He seemed to struggle during the game, definitely not the Brees we have gotten used to seeing.

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SUPER Wild Card Saturday: NFC

Dayna O’Gorman
Senior NFL Reporter
NFC West/AFC West

By Dayna O’Gorman // @DaynaOG

The NFL playoffs have begun! With the expanded playoff field, there were two full days of football, with three games on both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday featured two games for the NFC, bringing together two heated division rivals, a goat, and a hungry 7-9 team.

I’ll admit, I’m not a huge fan of the expanded playoffs. I believe that the top two teams in each conference deserved a bye week. However, the expansion does let some of those fantastic teams who would just miss out on the playoffs in the old system, fight for the Lombardi. Let’s take a look at Saturday’s NFC battles.

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The Twelve Days of Christmas – NFC South Style (Part 2)

Kate Arhar
Senior Sports Editor AFC North / NFC South

By Kate Arhar // @ClvlndK8

Just so you know, I am NOT a fan of two-part episodes of tv shows. Or movies with a huge cliff-hanger that you have to wait years to see. (Thanks “Empire Strikes Back” for traumatizing my teen years!)

At the same time, who really likes the song “The Twelve Days of Christmas?” It’s soooooo long…. and repetative… and boring…

So this one time, I made an exception and broke my article into two parts.

Welcome to Part Two!

On the 6th Day of Christmas the NFC South gave to me…  Six Mike Evans Receptions

Have we seen this story before? The Atlanta Falcons get off to a 17-0 lead at halftime only to let a Tom Brady team (this time the Buccaneers) back into the game to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory…. That was the story this week. And frankly, I blame the lack of targets to wide receiver Mike Evans. With only seven targets and six receptions, quarterback Matt Ryan just couldn’t get the ball to Evans enough in the home stretch to get the win.

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The Twelve Days of Christmas – NFC South Style!

Kate Arhar
Senior Sports Editor AFC North / NFC South

By Kate Arhar // @ClvlndK8 

It’s that time of year… the NFL season is winding down and we writers are trying to find new and interesting ways to recap the past week and look forward to the week ahead. Plus, the holidays are right around the corner.

And so, I present to you: The 12 Days of Christmas – NFC South Style!

On the 12th Day of Christmas, the NFC South gave to me…  TOM BRADY winning 8 games

Who else would we start with but “TB12” himself! There are more wins on the horizon for the Buccaneers but last’s weeks beat-down of the Minnesota Viking was just classic Brady. 15/23 for nearly 200 yards and two touchdowns. They are sitting at 8-5 with the Detroit Lions and two chances to beat the Atlanta Falcons. Should finish the season 10-6!

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NFC South: Week 7 Preview

Kate Arhar
Senior Sports Editor AFC North / NFC South

By Kate Arhar // @ClvlndK8 

The NFC South saw some teams struggling to get going this season but one of them has started to stand out and separate itself from the pack: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

While the New Orleans Saints (after a bye week) and the Carolina Panthers are hot on their heels, the Buccaneers just LOOK better than everyone else at this point.

And don’t even get me started on the Atlanta Falcons. Firing head coach Dan Quinn and promoting defensive coordinator Raheem Morris from to the interim head coach position may have been a no-brainer after an 0-5 start, but PLEASE don’t let their victory over the Vikings this past weekend make you think much has changed.

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NFC South Week 3 Preview

Kate Arhar
Senior Sports Editor AFC North / NFC South

By Kate Arhar // @ClvlndK8 

The Atlanta Falcons blew a 19 point lead in their loss to the Dallas Cowboys. The New Orleans Saints blew a 17 point lead in their loss to the Las Vegas Raiders. And the Carolina Panthers getting blown out by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers rounds out a pretty weak Week 2 as the NFC South goes 1-3.

The Panthers and Falcons head into Week 3 at 0-2. The Saints and Buccaneers are both 1-1. I know it’s early in the season, but hopefully, this week will mark some improvement for all of these teams.

Let’s take a look at their match-ups!

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Is the NFC South ready for the 2020 season?

Kate Arhar
Senior Sports Editor AFC North / NFC South

By  Kate  Arhar  //  @ClvlndK8  

Summer is here and we’d usually be talking about OTA’s and Mini-camps right now. Instead, we are trying to figure out if the NFL will even have a season this year and guessing as to what it might look like.

While fans and the media are all about speculating on what the future will bring, the teams in the NFC South have been busy trying to conduct business as usual. Or at least as well as they can during this pandemic.

Let’s take a look at how the draft and free agency has affected the Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

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Don’t worry Pats fans. I’m here for you!

Sonja Greenfield, Senior NFL Reporter NFC North, NFC East

By Sonja Greenfield //  @Mom23RN

Thanks to my pal Murph, my kids have been indoctrinated into Patriot Nation. Well… at least two of them. The third is just trying to get on to UCLA’s women’s gymnastics team.

But as we know, their quarterback Tom Brady moved on to warmer pastures and is taking his talents to Tampa Bay.  And with all that’s going on, Patriot Fan, I’m here for you.  In a socially distant type of way, of course.

See… while most NFL fans (especially the AFC East peeps) are doing happy dances and the like, I was starting to feel bad for you.  We all knew that the end would come at some point, but wasn’t expecting it right now.

Then it hit me this morning that the winner of the NFC will theoretically have to get through Brady.  If (hopefully) he’ll be able to reproduce a single season in Tampa like the ones he had in New England, look out.

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A change of colors for two veterans quarterbacks

Lisa Johnson
AFC South AFC East Reporter

By Lisa Johnson //@LJ1303

As we begin the 2020 NFL season, a few questions have been answered in regards to several top quarterback spots that were up for grabs.

The first one being that of New England’s future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady. For the first time in his entire NFL career, Brady was about to be a free agent. But as we all knew, that didn’t last too long.

AFC East fans rejoiced because Brady, as expected, signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians left no question that Tampa Bay would be a top contender in signing the six-time Super Bowl winner. This ended his two-decade stay with the Patriots.

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NFC South – Week 10 preview

Kate Arhar
Senior Sports Editor AFC North and NFC South

By Kate Arhar // @ClvlndK8 

Week 10 is here and – WOW – it’s been a weird season for the NFC South!

Quarterback issues…. coaching issues…. injury issues… you name it, they’ve seen it.

Now that the teams have all had their Bye Week, the rest of the season is going to break down into two battles: First Place in the Division or Top Five Pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

This week brings us a division match-up between the New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons which will impact both of those battles!

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