After helping to create the greatest dynasty in the history of the NFL with the New England Patriots, Tom Brady, much like the rest of us, figured that it would be a while before the club was back in the mix for title contention. Nevertheless, the sophomore breakout of Drake Maye has them sitting at 7-2 with a playoff spot nearly guaranteed.
Advertisement
It’s the first time that New England projects to make the playoffs since 2021 and just the second since Brady’s departure from the franchise in 2020. Suffice to say, the rest of the football world wanted the Patriots to have to wait a bit longer before they could enjoy some more success, but according to the man himself, they’ve waited long enough.
“The Pats have all the intangibles dialed in, and they look like a classic New England football team,” Brady suggested while offering up his latest power rankings. “We haven’t seen that in a few years,” he added, a subtle reference to his six Super Bowl wins with the franchise in 20 years.
Regardless of how you may feel about that, Brady still believes that this kind of phenomenon is worthy of its own label. Hence, his tongue-in-cheek suggestion that “We need a name for this kind of thing. What do we call it? The Vrabel way? It’s kind of catchy, isn’t it?”
The Patriots ranked sixth overall in his pre-Week 10 power rankings, and ironically enough, he’s ranking his only other former franchise, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, even higher than that. “This team doesn’t always get mentioned in the same breath with the Chiefs, Eagles, and Bills,” Brady prefaced, “but they should,” a nod that the Bucs are an elite team.
In the eyes of the seven-time Super Bowl champion, their inter-conference match-up in Week 10 may just be the can’t-miss contest of this Sunday’s slate.
“The Bucs come off of their bye week number three setting up a huge showdown with the Pats in Tampa. We’ve got two teams that might feel like they’ve got something to prove, ya gotta like that, and it usually results in a great football game. Just don’t ask me to pick any sides here.”
On account of this one being played in Tampa, the Buccaneers are receiving the nod from the oddsmakers out in Las Vegas, albeit reluctantly. Baker Mayfield and co. are being listed as -2.5 point underdogs across various sportsbooks, while the comeback on New England’s money line is currently sitting at +120.
At one point in time or another throughout this season, both Mayfield and Drake Maye have garnered their own bit of MVP hype, so unless one of these two offenses decides to uncharacteristically lay a goose egg on gameday, this one is likely going over its projected point total of 48.5.
