As much as we know we shouldn’t be overlooking the New Orleans Saints, it’s hard when arguably the biggest regular season contest in NFL history is looming in Week 4.
Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are coming to Foxboro next week and the chatter has already begun from almost every direction. Brady’s trainer Alex Guerrero is taking shots at Bill Belichick, and typically, the coach sidestepped questions about the drama choosing to focus on the Saints.
Resistance is futile, Mr. Belichick, this Bucs game is life and we’re going to be talking about it nearly non-stop for the next 2 weeks and, in some ways, all year.
Who comes out on top? Most will likely lean in the direction of the defending champions, but one analyst believes New England will look to use the “emotions” Brady figures to have against him.
Patriots Will Hope That Tom Brady is Overly ‘Emotional’ For Week 4 Game
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio believes Belichick will look to use a few mind games to throw Brady off his square, and then take advantage of the future Hall-of-Famer’s signature emotion to make him “wobbly.” Yes, he said “wobbly.”
Florio wrote:
The truth is that, like plenty of other coaches, Belichick believes that positive reinforcement will make a player soft or complacent. Thus, praise is withheld no matter the player’s accomplishments. Until he retires or becomes an opponent. Next week, Belichick undoubtedly will praise Brady. Criticism would serve only to rile him up. No, Belichick will go over the top in his praise of Brady, possibly talking about how emotional it will be for Brady to be back. And hopeful that Brady will have that emotion keep him from being at the top of his game. That was indeed one of the concerns about Brady during his time with the Patriots, that if he became too emotional in a given game it possibly would affect him in a negative way. The Patriots hope that Brady will be emotional, that the emotions will knock him a little wobbly. Regardless, don’t expect Belichick to respond to Guerrero’s comments, next week or ever.
All the same, the game still sits firmly on the NFL’s schedule like Christmas for the NFL and participating network’s ad revenue.
Here is the New England Patriots Remaining Schedule
New England Patriots (1-1) 2021 Regular Season Schedule
- Week 1 – Miami Dolphins 17, New England Patriots 16
- Week 2 – New England Patriots 25, New York Jets 6
- Week 3 – New Orleans Saints at 1pm ET – FOX – September 26
- Week 4 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 8:20 pm ET – NBC – October 3
- Week 5 – at Houston Texans at 1pm ET – CBS – October 10
- Week 6 – Dallas Cowboys at 4:25 pm ET – CBS – October 17
- Week 7 – New York Jets at 1pm ET – CBS – October 24
- Week 8 – at Los Angeles Chargers at 4:05 pm ET – CBS – October 31
- Week 9 – at Carolina Panthers at 1 pm ET – CBS – November 7
- Week 10 – Cleveland Browns at 1 pm ET – CBS – November 14
- Week 11 – at Atlanta Falcons at 8:20 pm ET – FOX/NFL Network/Amazon – November 18
- Week 12 – Tennessee Titans at 1 pm ET – CBS – November 28
- Week 13 – at Buffalo Bills at 8:15 pm ET – ESPN – December 6
- Week 14 – Bye Week
- Week 15 – at Indianapolis Colts Time TBA – December 18
- Week 16 – Jacksonville Jaguars at 1 pm ET – CBS – January 2
- Week 17 – at Miami Dolphins at 1 pm ET – CBS – January 9
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Patriots Hope for a ‘Wobbly’ Tom Brady in Week 4, Says NFL Analyst