Can Washington Pull of the Biggest Upset of the Playoffs by Beating Tom Brady and His Buccaneers?

Published 01/07/2021, 12:54 AM EST

Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have peaked at just the right time. With 5 wins in their last 5, the Buccaneers clinched the NFC’s 5th seed and booked their seat in the playoffs for the first time in 13 years.

Luckily for the Buccaneers, they’ve got the only team in the entire playoffs with a losing record, the Washington Football Team. In what has been a season full of ups and downs, Washington has had one shining light. Their explosive D-line.

Washington’s hungry D-Line on the hunt for Tom Brady

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Ron Rivera’s Washington Football Team has assembled a near-elite D-Line this season. Washington’s 4-3 defense has shut out multiple teams this season.

With players like Chase Young, Montez Sweat, and Daron Payne, the team’s pass defense has been exceptional. In fact, it’s second in the league for yards allowed. The NFC East franchise is second only to the Los Angeles Rams.

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This would be a cause for concern for the Buccaneers who are heavily reliant on their passing game.

Washington’s locker room has been making some noise ahead of the playoff tie as well. Rookie pass rusher Chase Young especially seems to have set his target on taking down Brady.

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Bucs heard Chase Young 🤐 @brgridiron pic.twitter.com/JNqBbgmUNl
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 5, 2021

Many feel it’s unnecessary for Young to get himself involved in mind games at this point in time. Yet some others feel that it’s just the rookie showing his enthusiasm ahead of lining up opposite the GOAT.

Tom Brady’s Struggles with a collapsing pocket

While Brady has been a different beast of late, he has struggled when the pocket is not clean. And with that Washington D-Line ahead of him, Brady will be asked a lot of questions when they take to the field.

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Brady has struggled with interceptions as well. On his way to 40 regular-season touchdowns, the 43-year-old has thrown 12 interceptions.

On the contrary, Washington’s defense has been pretty good with catching a few themselves. With 16 defensive interceptions, the side is second in the league in this regard. This is yet another reason for Brady to be wary of Washington’s defense.

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Tom Brady is the winningest quarterback in playoff history. But for Tampa’s QB to add one more to his tally of 30 playoffs wins, the road might not be as easy as it looks.

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Written by:

Shivayan Roy is currently an NFL writer at EssentiallySports. After completing his Masters Diploma in Journalism from the Asian College of Journalism, Roy functioned as a reporter for Goal.com and extensively covered the FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Can Washington Pull of the Biggest Upset of the Playoffs by Beating Tom Brady and His Buccaneers?

Washington’s hungry D-Line on the hunt for Tom Brady

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Tom Brady’s Struggles with a collapsing pocket