Tom Brady leaving the New England Patriots and signing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers was the biggest news in the sports world this past week.  Tom Brady has been a Patriot since being drafted in 2000 and has won 6 Super Bowl titles in the span, while building a dynasty with coach Bill Belichick.  And it’s not like Brady and the Pats slowed down lately. They’ve won the AFC East for the past 11 seasons and won 3 Super Bowls in the past 6 seasons. These facts made it even more surprising when Brady and Belichick decided to part ways this season.

The question now inevitably became which team is going to be better this year.  Brady and the Bucs, or Belichick and Pats. Let’s dive into this more below:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Bucs odds shortened to 18-1 to win the Super Bowl after they signed Tom Brady.  Check out BetOnIt.org for guides on how to place a bet like this online.  They have location specific pages for betting online from the USA.

Tampa Bay went 7-9 last season with Jameis Winston as the QB.  The team has some big receiving weapons in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, but Winston had big trouble with turnovers last year, which lead to the under .500 record even though the offense scored in bunches.

The problem I see with the Bucs Super Bowl chances is that they are still clearly not the best team in the NFC South.  That honor goes to the New Orleans Saints who have Drew Brees returning, and a team that went 13-3 last season and that is built to compete for the Super Bowl.

Also, let’s not forget that Tom Brady is 42 years old and did not have great numbers last year.  Yes, he didn’t have great weapons on the Pats last season, but I still think his best years are behind him.

With the Bucs likely to finish second to the Saints, the road to the Super Bowl will be very difficult.

New England Patriots

The Patriots odds lengthened to 25-1 to win the Super Bowl after the news broke of Tom Brady leaving.  The Pats are a team in flux. They have Jarret Stidham, who they drafted in the fourth round of the 2019 draft as a potentially QB, but there are also several other options such as Andy Dalton, Cam Newton, or event Jameis Winston.  Whoever is under center, will start for a team that went 12-4 last season, and has won the AFC East for 11 straight years.

The AFC East will still be a very weak division next year with the Jets and Dolphins expected to still be near the bottom of the league, and the Bills still somewhat of a wildcard.  The Pats are -110 to win the division next year, but I fully expect Belichick and company to find a way to make it 12 years in a row atop the AFC East.

If the Pats win the division, I think they automatically have a better chance at winning the Super Bowl than the Bucs.  Yes, they have the Chiefs and Ravens to deal with the AFC, but anything can happen in an NFL game, and I think setting yourself up with a potential first round bye or at least home field advantage in the wild card game is a huge factor in a potential Super Bowl win.

I think the Pats at 25-1 is very much in play, while the Bucs at 18-1 is not.