The GOAT comes home
The hype train was chugging along all offseason to prepare for the return of Tom Brady, a.k.a. the GOAT, QB/QT, TB12 or however you choose to refer Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr.
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What’s he going to do going against Bill Belichick? What does Bill have up his sleeve to stop the best QB the game has seen?
How will the crowd react? Will they cheer for the player who led the Pats to six Super Bowl championships, or will they see a carpetbagger who took the money and put Foxboro in his rearview mirror? Or will they spend the three hours wishing they were all still together?
But just before it reached Foxboro, the hype train derailed. Brady and the Bucs look like title contenders once again, but while Belichick still remains in control with an unyielding grip, the pieces he currently has in place are far from championship caliber. Mac Jones has been OK, much like the start of the Brady era 20 years ago. But unlike 20 years ago, this Patriots team doesn’t appear to have a defense that it can fall back on.
Winning the turnover battle. Not having a kickoff go out of bounds. The other assorted little things that combine to be big things and often resulted in Patriots victories. Those check marks that used to be givens during the Belichick/Brady years (maybe you call them Brady/Belichick years) are givens no longer.
The most anticipated game in franchise history should be a memorable night no matter the outcome with Brady 68 yards shy of breaking Drew Brees’ NFL-record 80,358 career passing yards and Belichick doing everything he possibly can to shut down the player he is forever tied to.
Tampa Bay (-7) at Patriots — Bringing pressure up the middle has been Brady’s kryptonite, but with this defense it’s hard to envision Belichick being able to duplicate his defensive masterpiece from the 2002 Super Bowl. Buccaneers, 34-16.
Jacksonville at Cincinnati (-7.5) — That Trevor Lawrence flea-flicker off the back foot that turned into a pick-six might have been the worst throw of the weekend. Bengals, 28-17.
Washington (-1.5) at Atlanta — WTF, WFT, where’s the vaunted defense? Falcons, 2423.
Detroit at Chicago (-3) — The Lions are owed one from the zebras for missing a delay of game call on the Ravens’ final drive. Matt Nagy’s play-calling will stink no matter which QB he starts. Lions, 20-17.
Tennessee (-7) at N.Y. Jets — Like the Jags, haven’t seen a reason not to fade the Jets yet. Titans, 28-17.
Cleveland (-2) at Minnesota — Plenty of points to be had in the dome. Browns, 34-28.
Indianapolis at Miami (-1.5) — Two teams in desperate need of a victory. Colts, 2320.
Carolina at Dallas (-4.5) — Dallas is cooking, and the Panthers without Christian McCaffrey have no teeth. Cowboys, 31-17.
N.Y. Giants at New Orleans (-7.5) — Protect-the-football Jameis Winston is serviceable, even better when he hands the ball to Alvin Kamara 20-something times. Saints, 28-17.
Kansas City (-7) at Philadelphia — Time for KC to put four quarters together. Chiefs, 38-17.
Houston at Buffalo (-15.5) — Sure 40-plus points are nice, but the Buffalo defense has come to play the past couple weeks. Bills, 38-14.
Arizona at L.A. Rams (-4.5) — If the Rams want to be treated like a true contender, they won’t suffer a letdown following a dominating performance against the defending champs. Rams, 30-23.
Seattle at San Francisco (-3) — Seahawks defense is a mess allowing 985 yards in two weeks, but also can’t see San Fran pulling away. 49ers, 28-24.
Baltimore at Denver (-1) — Baltimore had a letdown but managed to escape victorious thanks to a friendly kiss off the crossbar. Ravens, 2624.
Pittsburgh at Green Bay (-6.5) — Nothing romantic about this one. Packers, 31-17.
Las Vegas at L.A. Chargers (-3.5) — Has the makings of a fantastic contest. More faith in the Bolts defense to deliver a game-changing play. Chargers, 30-24.
Using Denver against the Jets with no engines was an easy victory for the survivor pool entry. While both Cincinnati and Tennessee are getting more than a touchdown against the Jags and Jets punching bag combo, I’m going to use Buffalo at home against Houston. Two good weeks in a row from Josh Allen combined with the Texans looking inept offensively.
LAST WEEK: 7-9-0 (.438)
SEASON: 20-28-0 (.417)
Lines used are from FanDuel Sportsbook.