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For the second straight week, an opposing pass rusher has Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady in his crosshairs. During an interview with NFL Network’s Steve Smith, Saints defensive end Cameron Jordan corrected the former receiver when he called Brady the GOAT [Greatest of All Time] pushing for Drew Brees to be ranked above the Bucs quarterback.
“When you say GOAT, like one of the GOATs,” Jordan said. “He probably No. 2 on the list behind the quarterback who has 80,000 passing yards [Drew Brees]. There’s probably another quarterback right there. He’s not. Man, neutralize Tom Brady? You don’t have to really worry about him escaping the pocket, at this point, [like] a lot of other quarterbacks do in this league.”
Brees does have slightly more passing yards than Brady with 80,358 compared to 79,204. Yet, Brady’s six rings to Brees’ one Super Bowl win far exceeds a narrow lead in passing yards when ranking all-time quarterbacks. Jordan finally gave the Buccaneers offense their due calling it a “phenomenal system” that they hope to make “single-faceted” in their playoff showdown.
“He has such a phenomenal system,” Jordan added. “You talk about what Tom’s been able to do, make all the throws and, of course, the weapons he has, Leonard Fournette, Shady McCoy. You talk about Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown. They don’t lack for much on their offense. You talk about Gronkowski. So, how to neutralize just him? I don’t know if that’s possible, but we do try to make them single-faceted.”
Here is a look at the full NFL Network interview with Jordan.
Brees on Facing the Bucs: ‘It Was Inevitable’
Brees was much more complimentary of Brady and the Bucs after the Saints punched their ticket to the Divisional Round. The Saints quarterback admitted he felt like it was “inevitable” that New Orleans would face Tampa Bay in the postseason after Brady signed with the Bucs over the offseason.
“Yeah, [I] don’t take it for granted,” Brees explained, via Fox News. “I’m very appreciative of the opportunity. And listen, the minute that he signed with the Bucs and came in the division, you felt like that was going to be a team to contend with, that was going to be a team that had playoff aspirations and beyond, just like us. So, I guess it was inevitable.”
Brees vs. Brady Is the Oldest QB Matchup Ever
Brady and Brees will make history (again) as the playoff game features the oldest quarterback matchup ever with a combined age of 85. Brees turns 42 just two days before the Divisional Round game, but Brady has the slight edge at 43.
It appears the quarterbacks are having fun with the “old” matchup as Brady reposted a graphic of himself and Brees with grey beards along with the History Channel logo. Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians is cautioning his team from getting caught up in the NFC South rivalry, but he does not want Tampa Bay to lose the swagger that has helped them have success.
“I don’t think there’s any more swag than our offense has – I guarantee that,” Arians noted, per Buccaneers.com. “You can’t get caught up in the finger pointing and the trash talking – you’ve got to play football. The Bears’ young receiver got caught up in it and got thrown out of the game. It’s going to happen – that’s who they are. You just have to deal with it and win your one-on-one matchups. They have a ton of swagger and they should.”
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