2. Week 12 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
I feel like there are a lot of people expecting the Tom Brady experiment in Tampa Bay to be incredible or an unmitigated disaster.
Truth be told, the Buccaneers’ 7-9 record from the 2019 season doesn’t really tell the whole story. That was a good football team, specifically on the offensive side of the ball, thanks to some great coaching from Bruce Arians and Byron Leftwich. The Bucs offense actually averaged more points per game last season (28.6) than the Kansas City Chiefs (28.2) did. The fact that Tampa Bay even won seven games is a miracle considering that then-QB Jameis Winston averaged nearly two interceptions per game.
Now Rob Gronkowski is back in the league, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Cameron Brate will have a future Hall of Fame QB throwing them the ball. This offense has a chance to be even better during the 2020 season. Their defense was right around the league average in 2019, but they added one of my favorite players in the draft in Antoine Winfield Jr., who has Tyrann Mathieu-like versatility.
One thing that will make this game tough for the Chiefs is that it’s the second of back-to-back road games. The first game comes on “Monday Night Football” against the Las Vegas Raiders. Division rivalry games always take a bit extra out of the team, so that’s something to keep an eye on.
This game will, of course, be hyped up as Tom Brady vs. Patrick Mahomes IV. If the season is going well for the Bucs, it could have significant playoff implications in the AFC during the last half of the season.