The TBs are coming!
Tampa Bay … Tom Brady … Todd Bowles. They’ll all be at MetLife Stadium on Sunday at 1 p.m. to …
The TBs are coming! Tampa Bay… Tom Brady… Todd Bowles. They’ll all be at MetLife Stadium on Sunday at 1 p.m. to take on (or is that torment?) the Jets. The Buccaneers (11-4) have clinched the NFC South, but sit fourth in the NFC playoff picture. That would give them a home game in the wild-card round. They are one game behind the Packers (12-3) for the sole NFC bye and are currently seeded behind the Cowboys and Rams (who are both 11-4). All three of those teams have challenging games in Week 17, so the defending champs come in with at least a modicum of motivation in that area. Bowles, the Bucs’ defensive coordinator, has his own reasons for wanting to have a good showing against a Jets team that went 24-40 under his watch, from 2015-18. Brady, possibly the all-time Jets tormentor, has put up 30-plus points in five of the past six games, but will be operating without Leonard Fournette, Chris Godwin and possibly Mike Evans. The weather is also an interesting factor for a game with a high spread and moderate total (45.5). Temps are forecast to be in the 50s, but the winds will be in the mid-20s gusting to the 30s. That’s probably a recipe for more running, clock rolling and a lower-scoring game. On the other hand, whatever the weather, Brady has way more experience than Zach Wilson does at playing in it. The Jets are a live team right now, coming off two ATS wins after starting 3-8 ATS. Robert Saleh and some key COVID players — including OLs Alijah Vera-Tucker and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and a few recognizable names on defense — are coming back. Mike LaFleur will call some trick plays and the Jets should be loose. Just seems like a lot of points. The pick: Jets, +13.5. All credit to the Bears for their last-minute win in the snow at Seattle. It’s a huge stretch to now lay nearly a touchdown with a team that’s 5-10 overall and 2-8 ATS in its past 10.
