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Last season, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the NFC South for the first time since the 2007 season. In their second season with Tom Brady under center, they finished with a 13-4 record, edging out the New Orleans Saints, who won the division four straight years between 2017 and 2020.
Ahead of the start of the regular season, there is a lot of speculation about how the Buccaneers will perform. This is because they have had a tumultuous offseason. The drama began when Brady retired, only to un-retire just over a month later. Then, Rob Gronkowski retired for a second time. So far, his retirement has stuck. Most recently, there have been questions about Brady missing practice and how his absence during those practices might affect the team.
On ESPN, the "First Take" crew discussed who they think will win the NFC South this season. Analyst Marcus Spears made a bold prediction. He picked the Saints to win the division. He cited the Bucs' offensive line woes as a reason for this. He also stated that the all-round balance the Saints have will take them past the Bucs.
Spears said:
"Oh, it's the New Orleans Saints… And listen, this would not be a conversation if Tampa wasn't dealing with these offensive line issues. When their offensive line was intact, the Saints beat them, as well. The Saints have owned the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the regular season since Tom Brady has been there. Jameis Winston coming back. They signed Jarvis Landry. They drafted Chris Olave."
"Michael Thomas is going to be back. People forget about how dominant Michael Thomas is. He's gonna come fit right back in. Then, this all fits and continue to make Jameis Winston the quarterback that we all thought he could be without giving the football away as he turned it down last year. "
Spears pointed out that the Saints have one of the best defenses in the NFL and also added Tryann Mathieu to boost their secondary.
"And then defensively, they signed Tyrann Mathieu. This defense is already considered one of the best defenses in the NFL ... and all of the things that's going on with Tampa. Tom Brady just took an 11-day hiatus from camp. They’re losing all the offensive linemen in droves. There is no one returning on this offensive line that played in the Super Bowl outside of Tristan Wirfs, and everybody is acting like, 'Oh, it's fine, Tom Brady at quarterback'."
"Last time I checked, when we did First Take the week leading up to the Super Bowl when Tampa and Kansas City played and we had Patrick Mahomes with a Superman cape on, his offensive line was trash, and everybody remembers what happened. So I don't know why the calming presence is over people about this offensive line situation in Tampa."
Also Checkout:- Buccaneers Preseason Schedule
The New Orleans Saints won the NFC South the first year Tom Brady joined the Buccaneers
Tom Brady joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before the 2020 NFL season.
While he led them to a Super Bowl win over the Kansas City Chiefs, they surprisingly didn't win the NFC South. They finished in second place to the New Orleans Saints.
New Orleans finished 12-4 while the Bucs finished 11-5. The Saints took the two meetings versus the Buccaneers in the regular season but lost when it mattered most, in the playoffs.
With a healthy Saints squad this season, they could give the Bucs a run for their money in the NFC South.
If you use any of the above quotes, please credit First Take and H/T Sportskeeda.
