Tom Brady is coming home to New England as the Buccaneers face off against the Patriots on Sunday Night in Week 4.
Tom Brady‘s return to Foxborough has been set for Week 4 of the 2021 NFL season, and it’s in primetime. Like his competition Peyton Manning, Brady will get the opportunity to come home on a Sunday Night game against the same franchise who drafted him with the 199th overall pick in 2000 and watched him deliver six Super Bowls.
Now in Tampa Bay, the soon-to-be 44-year-old has recently pulled off the impossible by winning his seventh Lombardi Trophy by knocking off three all-time greats. Meanwhile, his former crew went 7-9. Now, this matchup has the potential to be the most-watched of the regular season, and for a good reason.
New England went ballistic in their pocketbooks and signed several big-name free agents, including two top tight ends and a plethora of wide receivers to help give Cam Netwon and perhaps Mac Jones a better supporting cast than what was presented in the previous year. In contrast, Tampa Bay essentially retained every starter from their Super Bowl run and added some quality players throughout the draft to enhance their depth.
The Patriots and the Buccaneers game has the potential to go down as the best game of the regular season.
If we look just at the optics and visualize from an outside perspective, this undoubtedly will produce high ratings and be the talk of the week. But if we look beyond coverage, we see that there’s more to this game than meets the eye.
For one, Brady and the Bucs are on a mission of their own to prove that Patriots head coach Bill Belichick needed Brady all along and that he was done a disservice by not having the requisite weapons. In contrast, Belichick wants to prove that he can win without Tom Brady. So many questions built into one game, and without question, whoever wins will have the bragging rights, even though it’s a regular-season game.
Tom Brady is coming home, and he’s even bringing Rob Gronkowski with him. What’s to say both connect in the endzone on a play? How will the crowd, depending on how many are allowed back into the stadium, react? Only time will tell.