Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers didn’t even need new free-agent signing and former all-pro wide receiver Antonio Brown to have an explosive offensive performance. Week seven’s game between Tampa Bay and the Las Vegas Raiders was an absolute thrashing with Tampa Bay winning 45-20 with Brady slinging the ball around the field throwing for 369 yards and four passing touchdowns. It feels like they already had an embarrassment of riches, and if Brown can manage to stay on this team, then this offense may be unstoppable.
“I think he’s matured, and I believe in second chances,” Bucs coach Bruce Arians said about Brown. “Everybody wants to say that Tom picked him. Tom didn’t have anything to do with it. This was something Jason and I had been talking [about] for a couple weeks, ever since the injuries to our other guys. When the time was right, would we see if we could pull the trigger and fit him in to what we want to get done? And we’ll see. If Antonio does what I think he’s gonna do, I think he’s gonna be fine.”
It feels like this move will either make or break the Buccaneers. Brown has been a notable detriment to the locker room and just finished an eight-game suspension after pleading no contest to several unsettling criminal charges. On the other hand, he is an all-world talent that basically just got two years off from football and may be better than when he left.
