Tonight, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will travel to Foxborough to take on the New England Patriots, but instead of just being an early season game, it becomes much, much more. NBC Sunday Night Football’s bright lights will shine in what’s called “The Return”
AL Michaels, Cris Collinsworth, Tony Dungy, Rodney Harrison and NBC Sports’ Drew Brees took a look at Sunday night’s football game this weekend at a media convention as Tom Brady makes his long-awaited return to Gillette Stadium, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ bill. Belichick and the New England Patriots make a stopover this week.
Coverage begins this Sunday at 7 p. h. ET. with a special edition at the Football Night in America venue, followed by the start at 8:20 p. m. And Gillette Stadium on NBC, Peacock and Universe.
For Michaels, Sunday’s game marks the 44th time he will call up a game with Brady, 44, as quarterback.
IN ‘THE RETURN’
Michaels: “I can’t think of a more anticipated game than this in the 36 years I’ve covered the NFL in primetime. “
Dungy: “I’m not a normal season game that has had so much accumulation and anticipation. I think about when I was in Indianapolis and I went back to Tampa for the first time, and. . . I had only been in Tampa for six years. “Tom Brady, 20 years in the same position with the same coach and now it’s going to be amazing.
Collinsworth: “They know each other from the heart. And what path do you decide to attack the other?I can’t believe there’s a bigger story, if you love football, than just that. I can’t wait to see her.
ABOUT BRADY VS. BELICHICK
Collinsworth: “In my life, the biggest career we’ve ever noticed of a coach and a quarterback is right in front of us for this game, and they’re in every aspect of the field. Football has been my life anyway, but how can I be more passionate, more engaging and more theatrical than that?I mean, it’s going to be a wonderful, fun watch.
Harrison on the Patriots’ success: “Tom is a wonderful player and Bill is a wonderful coach, yet none of this happens without the other players. . . Everyone should combine them, pitting them against each other instead of celebrating. Twenty years in combination is a long time to win championships, win titles, department titles, win many games. It takes a lot of disinterest. It takes a lot of sacrifice to achieve this. “
Dungy: “I’m also curious to know who will have the merit?I over, if I played a game against Peyton Manning and he played against my team, all the practice time he had against the defense, all the practice time Tom had opposed that New England defense, knowing their calls, what they like to do, will he have the merit?. . . I tell you that Peyton Manning would feel he has the merit of betting against me and the Colts. Defense, and I’ll tell you that Tom Brady feels he has the merit of having coached against that defense.
Dungy on his revelry in Tampa Bay with the Colts in 2003: “When you walk into this stadium and you go to the visitors’ locker room, which you’ve never been in before, you come out of the visitors’ tunnel and you don’t know what the reaction will be and you see other people who were so special to you for 10 or 12 years and now they’re dressed in the opposite uniform. or they are no longer your colleagues or your staff, it is moving. . . No matter how you say it and cut it and look to say it, for Tom Brady coming back after 20 years, I can’t even imagine it.
ABOUT THE MATCH
Brees: “I think Tampa has a lot of guns, and it’s going to be hard to take care of all those guys. I think Tom has the ability to locate each of those guys based on the look we give him. Ultimately, I think the Patriots are going to have to find a way to take the ball, they’re going to have to find a way to borrow possession. . . For me, they are outplayed in this game in terms of personnel, and they will have to do their best to beat them.
Harrison: “I think for me, just hunting at the patriots’ best school, they gave up some quarters. They haven’t been able to make many plays with the ball. . . As much as you can hit Tom, and this has been proven in the past, if you can hit him, if you can make him feel uncomfortable, you can shake him. I think you saw a little bit of that last week as opposed to the Rams. This is how you have to play Tom. I have to play very physically, not only with Tom, but also with his receivers. You want to block, slow them down, and interrupt them.
Brees on Brady potentially broke his all-time record in aerial yards this weekend: “I would be in favor of Brady throwing the first play of the game and getting it out of the way. . . Let New England release her. They start at 25. Ask him to throw one at Mike Evans and let’s finish with that. . . I can’t think of a guy who has invested more in his career, in his preparation and in what he meant for the game. Definitely a special record because it’s a testament to the longevity he’s been in to delight in and the point he’s been touching.
Brees on Patriots rookie quarterback Mac Jones: “I was inspired by him. . . I think what I see is a guy who has a pretty clever command of this attack. He never seems to have been shaken into a position where he plays with confidence.
Collinsworth on jones and Patriots offense: “I think for everyone who’s seen Brady play with New England and Josh McDaniels offensively all these years, it’s amazing how, and I don’t compare him to Tom Brady, so don’t get me in. I’m the only one who can say, but it seems like his offense again.
Harrison: “I look at Josh McDaniels. You look at this offense, and you see it’s kind of an open offense, and it’s very conservative. . . I think he listens to the speeches and all the conversations about the Patriots not being a great offensive game, and I think they opened it up a little bit. I think they let him run the no huddle and maybe the offense pushed just to have some other idea.