The Tampa Bay Buccaneers entered the season as one of the most promising teams in the NFL. If anything, they knew that they will be in the spotlight after signing Tom Brady to a two-year contract.
The Buccaneers had already plenty of weapons in Mike Evans, OJ Howard, Ronald Jones II, and Chris Godwin. Then, they only got better by adding Rob Gronkowski and signing Leonard Fournette and Antonio Brown.
As you may know by now, however, they had their fair share of struggles throughout the season, but Tom Brady and their offense still came through and were able to put an end to their playoff drought.
Bruce Arians Lauds Washington Football Team, Takes A Shot At Dwayne Haskins
And now that all teams are 0-0 and that anything can happen in the playoffs, the Buccaneers are once again one of the teams to beat in the league. However, head coach Bruce Arians doesn't want them to be too confident.
The Bucs will host the Washington Football Team for their first game of the postseason, and even though they barely made the playoffs at 7-9, Arians will take them pretty seriously, as he knows that they're a much better team with Alex Smith under center:
“We’re not playing a 7-9 team. We’re playing a 4-1 team. When Alex Smith plays they’re a 4-1 team. We’re not playing Dwayne Haskins. We’re playing Alex Smith," the head coach told ESPN ahead of their meeting.
To put things in context, the Washington Football Team were just 1-5 when Dwayne Haskins started, which is just one of many reasons why the franchise decided to cut him loose just over a week ago.
Having a veteran quarterback like Alex Smith is obviously a big upgrade for Washington and they also feature one of the best defenses in the league right now, so even if that shot at Haskins was uncalled for, Arians is right: Don't be too confident and get the job done.
