Antonio Brown isn’t huge loss for Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will be without star wide receiver Antonio Brown on Sunday, but it’s not a major problem.
Antonio Brown won’t be with his Tampa Bay Buccaneers teammates on Sunday when they take on the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field for the NFC Championship Game.
It sounds like a huge deal. In practice, it’s not much of an imposition for Tom Brady and Co.
Brown, 32, joined Tampa Bay at midseason and made a moderate impact. The controversial WR caught 45 passes for 483 yards and four touchdowns. However, outside of two very good games against the Atlanta Falcons, Brown failed to register 70 receiving yards in any game. Last week against the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Divisionals, the former All-Pro went for one catch on two targets for 10 yards.
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On Friday, head coach Bruce Arians confirmed Brown would miss the game with a knee injury. Meanwhile, he placed trust in the other, less-rename options. Per ESPN:
“I think if you just look to last week, when Scotty and Tyler made those huge plays in the fourth quarter, the amount of trust that the coaches and Tom have in those guys just because they’ve earned it. Their performances have earned it,” Arians said. “Antonio will be missed, but we’ve got capable people stepping in.”
During the regular season, the Buccaneers relied heavily on Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and tight end Rob Gronkowski. They were the three receiving yardage leaders, respectively. After them came Scotty Miller, a rookie referenced above by Arians. The youngster had a critical 30-yard catch against New Orleans, the biggest gain of the day for the Bucs.
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Meanwhile, the postseason has been a boon for tight end Cameron Brate, who is leading Tampa Bay through those two games with 130 receiving yards. Against the subpar linebackers of Green Bay, look for Brate and Gronkowski to get plenty of targets.
While it would be foolish to paint Brown as a certain non-factor, the Buccaneers’ fortunes are largely going to hinge on whether the pass rush gets to Aaron Rodgers, if the Tampa Bay top-ranked run defense holds up against the Packers’ backs, and if Brady is kept clean in the pocket.
If the latter is answered in the affirmative, Brady has more than enough weapons to won this game, even if Brown is in street clothes on the sideline.
