The aftermath – Week 6: Tampa Bay/Pittsburgh

Tampa Bay Buccaneers 18, Atlanta Falcons 20  (Oct. 16)

This was a game that looked to be a definite “W” for the Bucs. I had been watching the Pittsburgh Steelers games, where the Steelers hadn’t look like the Steelers for weeks. Then they lost the Defensive Player of the Year, T.J. Watt! I’m sure the Bucs were watching the same thing.

This looked like a game that the Bucs could run away with quickly. You have Tom Brady, the 21-year vet, a “world beater”! Of course he couldn’t do it by himself; he has Godwin, M. Evans, decent offensive line, and a running back named L. Fournette. A talented defensive team. This seems to spell a win in my book – but let me explain to you how an away trip works:

We have a walk-through that Saturday morning (if the game is on Sunday) to go over last-minute details. We tweak or fix some things if need be. After that, we get on a chartered flight to whatever destination. Once we get there we have a couple or so hours to ourselves and then meetings. After meetings we would have a snack then go to our hotel room and bed check, as we have a curfew. Nothing exciting. This pretty much is standard, I think, for most NFL ball clubs.

Now, I may have gone to a strip club a time or two in a respected city, and may or may not have gotten fined, but that’s a whole other story! If we had time, I would explore the city. Some of the responsible ones would go to a nice dinner or shopping. Nothing too outrageous.

However, I cannot write this article and not mention Tom Brady’s actions. Is it selfish what he did? Possibly. However I am sure as far as Tom Brady is concerned, Robert Kraft is family, and that’s why, instead of traveling with the team, he went to the Patriot owner’s surprise wedding. Maybe it wouldn’t matter as much if he hadn’t missed the 11 days preseason or decided to take Wednesday off. I just feel the way Tom is going about things isn’t going to go over well with the team. 

But who’s going to tell Tom Brady no? Tom left Friday, and arrived Saturday in Pittsburgh before the team got there, so no harm, no foul. Tom is a respectable and responsible guy. I just think “Tom doing whatever Tom wants” leaves the team to make excuses for him, and answer questions that don’t need to be asked. For 21 years he’s been doing the same routine.

The game wasn’t lost by Tom Brady, though. He was getting hit way too often. The whole offense wasn’t executing the plays and they only mustered 18 points.

The defense looked lost. The rookie QB for the Steelers should have been confused, flustered and hit a lot.

But wait! He did get knocked out of the game. The defense should have had an easier time only having to deal with the backup. But Mitch Trubisky controlled the game and kept the defense on their heels just enough for the Steelers to win it. 

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers should have won this game. On paper, the Bucs had it all, from the GOAT quarterback to an elite defense. Yet, they lost. The team that won was the team that wanted it more. That team was the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Former defensive end Stylez White played for the Houston Texans, Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, Tennessee Titans, New Orleans Saints, Washington Redskins, Chicago Bears and Orlando Predators. He was on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ defense from 2007 to 2010.