Patriots Players Show Their Allegiance Online Ahead of Bucs-Saints

Getty Tom Brady

The link throughout the New England Patriots fraternity is strong.

The Patriots missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008, but several members of the roster had their eyes on NFL action on Sunday night.

Why? Former Patriot great and future Hall-of-Famer Tom Brady was leading his Tampa Bay Buccaneers past the New Orleans Saints and into the NFC Championship game.

The outpouring of support from Brady’s teammates was strong.

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Brady’s Teammates Still Have Great Respect for Him

Most know, Julian Edelman and Brady are friends. Because of that relationship, you might expect to see support from him for Brady. However, guys like Brandon Bolden and Patrick Chung (who both opted out of the season because of COVID-19) don’t have the same kind of public relationship with Brady.

For them to show that level of support for Brady is a testament to the impact the QB has had on his teammates with the Patriots.


The Brady-Belichick Debates Are Heating Up

A common storyline throughout the season has been the success Brady and the Buccaneers have had even through Sunday’s win over the Saints. With the Patriots and Belichick struggling in 2020 and Brady prospering, the obvious narrative is that the latter has gotten the best of the breakup.

If you were comparing the competition between Brady and Belichick to a race, you first have to ask yourself, is this a sprint or a marathon? Considering both men are toward the ends of their respective careers, you’d have to say it is a sprint.

One season usually wouldn’t be the death blow in a career comparison, but when you consider Brady and Belichick spent so many seasons together, and have so few years left to participate as a player and coach, respectively, TB12’s 2020 success will give him the edge in most people’s eyes.

That’s just one way of looking at things.

On another, and far more sensible hand, we must realize it is impossible to compare a head coach to a quarterback. Quite obviously, their roles are so different, it’s unfair to criticize Belichick for not attaining the same level of success while he tries to lead an entire team, compared to Brady only quarterbacking an offense.

Does Brady desperately want to win a Super Bowl without Belichick and the Patriots? You bet he does. Did Belichick want his 2020 team to perform better than Brady and the Bucs, and is he fired up like never before to get New England back into contention? Absolutely, but that doesn’t give any more credence to this entertaining, but less-than holistic debate.

Despite that bit of practicality, the Brady-Belichick storyline will continue for as long as both are active in the NFL, and it’ll crank up to another notch later this year when the Patriots face the Bucs in the 2021 regular season.

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