The Bucs won the championship and that goes a long way.

However, when I listen to the question posed to others in the media.

The Bucs or the field for 2021? Please. Of course the field. They won eleven regular season games.

A lot went right for them. I don't discount what they accomplished. But it is unlilkely that they will repeat.

There are a number of teams that will be a challenge to take them down.

One of them come from the shores of Lake Erie.

two of them (the Bills)

Won't be surprised if they go undefeated.

Everybody came back. all the coaches came back. Brady will get a real offseason to perfect the offense and the defense is coming in more hungry than ever.

i know our team and some others teams have stacked rosters, but they have THE roster, with the GOAT QB.

...3 of them. (the Lions!) Restore the roar, baby!

Sorry I am not buying.

No team remains the same. Not them. Not the teams they play.

There is no superior team. Teams are close in talent.

Injuries happen, no team is immune.

Way to many things have to go your way.

They are a good team but I do not see them repeating.

They have as good a chance as any champ to repeat. It is rare to have everyone return. But they were vulnerable at times last year. It’s not like they were totally dominant last year. They got hot at the right time. They’re going to be in the mix for sure and that QB they have has potential to be decent.

Can't see it, sorry. I would bet big money on TB NOT repeating.

They were, by far, the healthiest team in the league last year.

I can't see that happening again this year, and it will definitely hurt their chances to repeat.

On a side note, Pittsburgh and Baltimore were in the top 10 healthiest teams, and we were 22nd. That bodes well for our chances this year, and is a testament to our depth.

(Checks map)

I didn't think they were on Lake Erie, but, upon further review, it's close enough.

For years, my (as yet dismally unrealized) dream has been to see a CLE/DET Super Bowl.

No thanks, we always lose to the Lions. Count that as a loss this year.

I hope the team that beats them is the Browns...

But I've learned to never bet against Brady

They should get into the playoffs.

Brady will start the season at age 44. The rent will come due. You can not escape age forever.

They are returning players? Who are they?

Go through their roster and tell me how great the team is.

They have a handful of guys that stand out. It is not like 53 studs.

I really believe people are overrating this team.

So much happens every off season. New schedule. Every team turns over a bunch of players. Draft picks are added. Free agents come and go.

Some players get better some get worse.

Injuries can beat you down. It is very hard to win a Super Bowl. It is harder to repeat.

I think - just like you said - they will make the play offs and from there anything is possible based on:

Luck.
Injuries.
Trending form - hitting stride and peaking or peaked too early and slipping.

Last year literally they had everything roll their way. It's insanely hard to repeat in the best of times. Harder still with a 44 year old QB, even if he is the GOAT or in discussion as GOAT.

Me? I'd bet good money against a repeat.

The names on a roster are not as important as many think they are. Football is the ultimate team game. Great teams have often times proven to be greater than the sum of their parts.

As far as repeating I think it has a lot to do with timing. I don't think the best teams always win the SB. Often it's simply the team that gels and gets hot at the right time. A teams health has a lot to do with it too. The Bucs remained quite healthy and got hot at the right time. Repeating those circumstances may prove to be very difficult for them.

It's interesting you mention that. It seems to me that QBs often hit a wall in terms of performance. Their older bodies are also more brittle. Roethlisberger really hit the wall and hasn't been able to recover like he could in his youth. Manning limped to the finish line in '15. Same with Eli. Rivers was out of form last year. And most of those guys were drafted after Brady.

I know he spends a gagillion dollars every year on keeping himself in great shape, but, like you said, the rent will come due at some point. Just a matter of when.

Having been a sports fan my entire life I have seen great athletes humbled by age.

It is more often than not sad to see. I remember watching Larry Holmes begging the ref to stop the fight against Ali. I was in tears.

The decline sometimes is gradual. Other times it seems to happen right before your eyes.

Brady could be working out right now. He could get an injury working out and not fully recover.

Your body gets to a point where you just can not recover from what you once could. You can pull a muscle and it will not heal while you try to play.

I have the upmost respect for Brady. He has accomplished what no other has done. But he is human like all of us.

When you look at all the little things that happen in games that determine the outcome. And how close many of the teams are. In is really hard to repeat winning a Super Bowl.

Agreed.

I guess the question is - having managed to nurture his body, live right, defy age as a "normal" athlete ... does Brady, when he does start to see the affects of age, do so at a normal rate of decline over a couple or even a few seasons? Or having managed to carefully preserve the physical elements and stretch them out for longer than anyone else - when age starts to sink it's teeth in, does his body "fall off a cliff" so to speak and we see a sharp decline?

That is the question no one can answer.

It also applies to Ben.

The league has helped perserve quarterbacks with the rules for qb hits. In fact it is out of hand what they now call.

However, football including practice at 44 can be an issue. I have seen pitchers land wrong and tear an Achilles.

You can do all that Brady does to prepare. It still does not help you recover.

There is no fountain of youth.

Tampa represents the NFC they did improve their roster from last year. So who knows. They got the GOAT and you cannot forget that.

All I know is this. There is no team in the NFL that the Browns cannot beat. I think we are in the class of the only way we can lose is if we beat ourselves.

jmho

IMO we have the roster. And we have the coaching staff.

We are in a small group of teams with the capability to win a Super Bowl. No team is a lock.

As much as the media fixates on "Power Rankings" and odds. The reality is the top group of teams are pretty close.

In oder to win it all things have to fall your way a little. That is why there is no quarantees.

There is no doubt in my mind that the Browns are a team capable of winning a Super Bowl this year.

I don't believe the Buc's chances are any better than ours.

(On whether the Bucs' chances are any better than the Browns'.)
The Bucs played in a crappy NFC last year, they started the playoffs on the road at Washington F Team, who won their division with a sub par record.
The number of powerhouse teams in that conference were less. Eventually it would matter.

Ironic that the Bucs are favorites to win the Super Bowl.

How many picked them to win the Super Bowl in 2020?

Now it is like they are perceived as some great team. They are a good team. That is it.

I don't see how being totally dependent upon a 44 year old quarterback even though it is Brady is realistic.

It will not take much for Brady to slip.
.
“I had pretty serious knee surgery this offseason, which is the first surgery I’ve had in about 12 years,” the 43-year-old Brady said on Hodinkee Radio. “So I was really interested to see how it was going to go because last year just took a lot. Every week, I was kind of tending to my knee.

All I can say you do not recover the same as you age.

I have my doubts about how Brady will play this season.

That's insane. I know the coach nor the players would use injuries as an excuse, but that makes our 11-5 regular season look even more impressive...let alone a play-off win mixed in.

We should have upside and improve if healthier. Some of the additions could be further game changers IMO.

Then there is this narrative that they are returning 22 players.

News alert. That does not mean that any player will play the same as last year.

NFL Football games are often decided by a play or two. 22 players on the field. All kinds of things are going on once the ball is snapped. X amount of plays in a game.

Last team to repeat 03, 04 Patriots.

It is really hard to repeat.

Wonder if we sent our Health + Wellness folks to Atl, NO, and TB to learn what they did. If we were 22 we could improve.