Bad news for Brady and the Bucs

Since Tom Brady joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they are 0-4 against the New Orleans Saints this season. Their astonishing 9-0 loss to the Saints on Sunday night in Tampa Bay was doubly costly for the Bucs, who lost the services of their two star receivers, Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, as well as their carrier. Leonard Fournette balloon player.

Miguel bujold
The press

Godwin will miss the rest of the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, which is very bad news for Brady and the Bucs. The absences of Evans and Fournette are unlikely to be of long duration, both of whom have hamstring injuries.

But even before the injuries to those three players, Brady and the Bucs were having a tough night. Brady had 26 of his 48 passes for 214 yards, no touchdowns and one interception and suffered four sacks. It was only the third time in his career that he was cleared.

Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians also announced on Monday that wide-end Antonio Brown and safety half Mike Edwards will join their teammates, a move that is “in the best interests of the team.” he said. Both players had been suspended for three games after providing falsified vaccination evidence.

The Saints surprised their division rivals without their head coach, Sean Payton, who had contracted COVID-19 days earlier. Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen replaced him. Allen is doing a great job defending the Saints and could potentially get a second chance to showcase himself as a head coach, he who led the Oakland Raiders from 2012 to 2014.

The Saints are at the height of the race for a better second place in the National with a 7-7 record. They will host the Miami Dolphins next Monday. The Bucs will be in Carolina to face the Panthers on Sunday.

A MVP who is not a quarterback?

In total, 13 of the last 14 NFL MVP winners have been quarterbacks, but the odds are growing that it will be different this year. Jonathan Taylor continued his dream season by gaining 170 rushing yards on Saturday night against the New England Patriots.

The Indianapolis Colts running back has 1,518 yards on 270 carries (5.6 average) and has 17 rushing touchdowns. Passing, Taylor has 36 catches for 336 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Colts (8-6) are constantly improving and should be able to qualify for the playoffs. As for the Patriots (9-5), their next game, Sunday at Foxborough, will be mainly for the title of their division. If they beat the Buffalo Bills (8-6), they will make sure to finish first. But if the Bills win this game and their next two, at home against the Atlanta Falcons and New York Jets, they are the ones who will win the AFC East title instead.

Harbaugh’s bad bet

For the second time in three weeks, John Harbaugh went all out late in the game, and for the second time the strategy failed. The Baltimore Ravens attempted a double convert after scoring a touchdown in the last minute of their 31-30 loss to the Green Bay Packers.

Defeated three times in a row, the Ravens will be in Cincinnati next Sunday, a hugely important clash against the Bengals in the race for the North American Division Championship. Both teams are currently 8-6.

In his first career start, Tyler Huntley was a very good replacement for Lamar Jackson. He had 28 of his 40 passes for 215 yards, 2 touchdowns and no interceptions, and added 73 yards and 2 more rushing touchdowns. It seems pretty clear that Huntley has the tools to be a starting quarterback in the NFL, but it likely won’t be in Baltimore.

With their 11-3 record, the best on the circuit, the Packers sit first in the National and will keep it if they win their last three games. They will receive a visit from the Cleveland Browns (Saturday) and the Minnesota Vikings (January 2) before concluding their schedule in Detroit against the Lions (January 9).

The Steelers resist

It wasn’t easy, but the Steelers held on to their hopes of making the playoffs with a 19-13 win over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday in Pittsburgh. The Steelers defense had four turnovers that led to field goals from Chris Boswell, one of the league’s most reliable kickers and perhaps the best except Justin Tucker of the Ravens.

For the second game in a row, however, the Steelers allowed over 200 rushing yards and their offense struggled against the Titans’ defense. Led by Jeffery Simmons and Kevin Byard, the Tennessee defensive unit is very tough and combative. Thursday’s game in Nashville between the Titans and the San Francisco 49ers, who have won six of their last eight games, promises a lot.

Tuesday night football

With the Omicron wave raging, the NFL has been forced to make changes to its schedule in this 15^e week of activities. The game between the Las Vegas Raiders and the Browns in Cleveland has been moved from Saturday to Monday, and two games scheduled for Sunday will finally be played Tuesday night at 7 p.m. The two sides will pit teams battling for a place in the National tournament, as the Seattle Seahawks are in Los Angeles to face the Rams and the Washington team play in Philadelphia. against the Eagles. There were 160 positive cases of COVID-19 in the NFL last week.