The Tampa Bay Buccaneers dominated the Las Vegas Raiders last week as they pushed their record to 5-2. They now look forward to Monday night against the New York Giants (1-6). The Bucs (5-2) have been getting better each week on both sides of the ball and the Giants have not. The teams will meet for the fifth time in the last six seasons. Last year, the Bucs lost in heartbreaking fashion to the Giants 32-31, on a botched field goal in the waning moments. The Bucs won 38-35 in 2018 in their last trip to the Meadowlands but have a 7-15 record overall against the Giants.
Tom Brady has thrown for 1,910 yards and 18 touchdowns but will be without one of his best targets as Chris Godwin recovers from a broken finger. Of course, Brady still has the likes of Rob Gronkowski, Mike Evans, and Scotty Miller with Antonio Brown waiting in the wings. The reigning NFC Offensive Player Of The Month is 4-1 against the Giants in the regular season and has thrown six touchdowns to four interceptions with an 88.8 completion percentage.
Quarterback Tom Brady Has Bad History With The Giants
There is a lot of familiarity between Brady and the Giants. The most obvious ones are the two Super Bowl losses to Eli Manning. Super Bowl XLII gave Brady nightmares as the Patriots were on the verge of having a perfect season in 2007. Brady said to Oprah in 2018.
“It was a month before I really felt back to myself. It was a nightmare. You woke up the nest morning… I said ‘It didn’t happen there’s no way it happened.’”
Then the Patriots would face the Giants in Super Bowl 46 during the 2011 season. They would lose again and Manning would get his second Super Bowl Ring at the expense of Brady. Something he will always remember.
In addition, he will square off against former Patriots’ assistant and current Giants head coach, Joe Judge. Judge was the special teams’ coordinator/ wide receivers coach on the Patriots from 2015-2019 so he knows Brady well. Judge spoke highly of Brady this week saying.
“One thing about Tom is he’s a very intelligent player. He thinks ahead of the play, he’s always looking for answers, he’s very proactive in how he sees the game, he understands the personnel on the other side extremely well. He’s been in all situations, however you slice it up, as many times as you can possibly imagine, whether through practice or games. This guy is fluent in football.”
The Buccaneers Should Beat The Giants
The game plan on defense is getting to Giants quarterback Daniel Jones. The Buccaneers defense, led by Lavonte David, Ndamukong Suh, and Jason Pierre-Paul, rank second in the NFL with 25 sacks and have totaled 51 quarterback hits. As many young quarterbacks do, creating pressure will cause havoc on an already limited offensive team.
On the offensive side, expect Leonard Fournette to have a good game on Monday as he continues to get healthy. He’s averaging 4.9 yards per carry and has been historically good in the passing game. Both Miller and Gronkowski banged up coming into Monday’s game. Miller has a hip injury while Gronkowski is dealing with a shoulder injury. This is in addition to being down Chris Godwin and having a not-so-healthy version of Evans. Combined, Miller and Gronkowski have 645 yards with four touchdowns.
