After a 7-9 finish last season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers got a major upgrade at quarterback when they signed veteran Tom Brady to a two-year deal worth $50 million. The decision to switch from a turnover-prone signal-caller in Jameis Winston to a six-time Super Bowl winner paid immediate dividends as the 43-year-old Brady steered them to an 11-5 record in the regular season and a postseason berth for the first time since 2007. Now, the Buccaneers are playing in the NFC Conference Finals where they will face the Green Bay Packers.
When asked about Brady’s impact on the team during his Wednesday press conference, Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans replied: “He’s the greatest player to ever play the game.” Evans said Brady, with his enormous ability, can take any roster to the playoffs, just like he did with the Buccaneers.
“You add him to any roster and I’m sure the outcome would be somewhat like this. He always gets his team to the playoffs,” per a transcription of his press conference posted by the team on YouTube.
Brady a natural-born winner, says Evans
“He’s a winner. He’s a natural-born winner, leader, all that. At this point in his career, he’s just playing chess, and we’re definitely very happy that he’s on our side,” Evans stressed. In the regular season, Evans became the first player in NFL history to tally 1,000 receiving yards in his first seven seasons in the league. He finished the regular season with 70 receptions for 1,006 yards and a career-best 13 touchdowns. In his first playoff game, Evans caught six passes for 119 yards in their 31-23 win over the Washington Football Team.
The following week, Evans was limited to just one catch for three yards but he grabbed a touchdown pass from Brady in the red zone as the Buccaneers eliminated the New Orleans Saints, 30-20.
Packers coach wary of Brady
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur is fully aware of Brady’s ability to engineer a come-from-behind win as he experienced it first-hand during his time as quarterbacks coach for the Atlanta Falcons.
The Falcons took a 28-3 lead over Brady and the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI, but the veteran quarterback led his team to the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history to win 34-28 in overtime. “Tom’s been doing it a long time, leading his teams back,” LaFleur said during his press conference, per Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk.
With Brady leading the charge, LaFleur said he’s wary about how “dangerous and how explosive this football team can be. “But you can’t relax — especially when you get against great teams. You can’t relax for one second. You can’t take anything for granted,” he said. The Buccaneers defeated Packers, 38-10, in Week 6 but Green Bay is a four-point favorite in their NFC title clash.