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One year ago, Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the Super Bowl at Raymond James Stadium.
The pursuit of a repeat begins on Sunday when the Philadelphia Eagles host the Bucs. The playoffs have a wild-card round.
The 6 seed last year, despite having Brady, was given a 15.2% chance of reaching the Super Bowl at the beginning of the playoffs. This year, the defending champion who finished the regular season 13-4 with the No. 2 seed changed their mind.
The quarterback of the New England Revolution, Tom Brady, gave Mike Evans a hug after Evans caught a touchdown pass.
The Green Bay Packers have a 68.7% chance of making the Super Bowl, and the Bucs have a 29.6% chance of making it.
Here is a look at what to expect this weekend.
Home-field flavor.
The Los Angeles Rams lost to the San Francisco 49ers last week, so the No. 2-seeded Bucs will host. If they play anyone besides the Packers, they would host the game.
The Packers had the best home record in the league this year. Their margin of victory was the best in the league.
They went 6-3 on the road, with a points margin of just 29. They gave up an average of 17.13 points per game at home. They averaged 27.22 points and allowed 24 on the road.
Health has been a problem.
The team entered the playoffs as one of the healthiest in the league. Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown, and Cyril Grayson were all injured this year. They were without their top two running backs, Leonard Fournette and Ronald Jones II.
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They were without inside and outside linebackers, including Lavonte David, who had a foot injury. They were able to get Sean Murphy-Bunting and Jamel Dean back from the reserve/COVID-19 list.
Fournette, Pierre-Paul, and David all came back this week. Fournette looked fine during the portion of practice open to the media. Questions were raised about how effective he would be with the brace on his knee.
David will be the most ready for Sunday, and on Friday, Jones and Grayson were ruled out.
Pierre-Paul had two sacks last year while Barrett had four. The pass rush win rate ofBarrett was third-highest of any player last season. David had 26 tackles last year, 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 888-270-6611 The absence of David is a key reason why the Bucs have struggled with missed tackles and have given up uncharacteristic chunk plays on the ground.
David has a calming influence as a leader, and so do Pierre-Paul and Barrett, according to Arians. He thinks that will help the defense.
Life without Brown and Godwin.
Brady will have to rely on Breshad Perriman, Tyler Johnson, Scotty Miller, and Cameron, as well as wide receiver Mike Evans, who was held to two catches for 27 yards by the Eagles in the Week 6 game.
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Do you think there is a lot of Chris andABs out there? There is not a lot of them on the planet. You don't ask the replacements to be them, you ask them to be themselves.
The production from the group hasn't stopped despite the loss of some great guys.
The Bucs scored 41 points last week without Brown and Godwin, but it was against a team that had lost several players.
After missing six games because of cracked ribs and a punctured lung, New England tight end Rob Gronkowski has gotten healthy and is second in the league in receiving yards.
Over the last two weeks, he has had over 250 receiving yards. Brate caught 14 passes for 175 receiving yards and an 8-yard touchdown in the playoffs last year.
The Eagles' safeties are well-suited to be targeted by Brady and the Bucs. The Eagles safetyties are ranked by Pro Football Focus. The Eagles have given up 14 touchdown passes and a 77% completion rate to tight ends this year, ranking worst in the league.
The Eagles are a completely different team.
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The team is completely different from the one that played that game. The change is obvious based on who we are now. It is rare in this league where you change completely who you are, but that is exactly what we did.
The Bucs defense has had issues setting the edge as of late, and running back Miles Sanders has a problem with that. The Eagles are giving up less than 5 yards per carry on perimeter runs while the Bucs are giving up more.
The Eagles announced Friday that they will play despite the fact that Sanders had hand surgery less than three weeks ago, but they have also gotten production out of backups Jordan Howard and Boston Scott.
After an ankle injury limited his mobility, quarterback Jalen Hurts has developed more as a pocket passer.
It means so much to him that he continues to get a little bit better each day. We have known for a long time that he is very dangerous with his feet and can do a lot of things. In the last three weeks, he has had over a 100 quarterback rating in all three games, and we won all three of them. That is huge for his development.
He has a great pocket presence, according to Todd Bowles. He can run, but he can also throw the ball very well.
Looking ahead.
The Packers and 49ers would not face each other in the next round if the Bucs beat the Eagles. The Packers would be the lowest seed, and the highest seed would be the Bucs.
In Week 1 the Cowboys defeated the Bucs, and in Week 3 the Rams defeated them. The Rams and Sean McVay have a 2-0 record against Brady and the Bucs.
The Rams don't rely on a run game to fuel their offense, so they could present the biggest problem to the opponents. Cooper Kupp has been unstoppable.
The Rams are 7-2 on the road this season, but their secondary is banged up. They called Eric Weddle out of retirement this week because safety Taylor Rapp is in the concussion protocol.
The Cowboys have played well at times, but they have also been inconsistent. In eight of his games, the quarterback threw for two or fewer scores. They rely on the ground game more than the Rams, and have been hurt.
The Cowboys didn't try to run the ball against the No. 3-ranked rushing defense in the first week of the season.
The year started out with a bang but the Cards went 3-6 down the stretch. It has been an issue for Kliff Kingsbury's teams in college and the NFL to cool off late.
Some of his decisions in the loss to the Rams in Week 14 have been called into question. Kyler Murray is one of the most dangerous quarterbacks in the league with his legs, and the Bucs have had issues with mobile quarterbacks this season. Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills ran for over 100 yards in Week 14.
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