The fans want to see the New England Patriots play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Unfortunately, the NFL missed out on the opportunity for a Tom Brady and Bill Belichick rivalry game in 2020. They released the list of matchups well before Tom Brady signed with the Buccaneers. Here is the Patriots schedule for 2020.
So, when do the Patriots play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers? The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are scheduled to play the Patriots in 2021 at Gillette Stadium. That means that Tom Brady and possibly Rob Gronkowski will have to play an away game in Foxborough. Brady is under contract through 2021 and has no plans to retire. Rob Gronkowski, however, has already retired once and becomes a free agent after this season. That said, if Brady wants Gronkowski to return to Tampa Bay, you can expect to see him. Jason Witten recently came out of retirement and is entering year two of his second stint in the NFL.
While the majority of Patriots fans still hold a massive appreciation for Brady and Gronk, it will be interesting to see how they are treated coming out of the tunnel. We still do not know exactly when the Buccaneers will head north to square off against the Patriots, but we do know the game is happening. You can book this game as a prime-time game — something both teams will be prepared for. The Patriots have plenty of experience in the spotlight. Tampa Bay will play five prime-time games in 2020 which is more than enough to get used to the extra attention.
Factors to Consider for the Patriots – Buccaneers Game
The Patriots are in the process of repairing from the loss of many marquee free agents over the last few months. However, 2021 offers much more promise than this upcoming season. The Patriots will have roughly $90M in cap space to play with next offseason. On top of that, Stidham will have a full year as a starting quarterback under his belt. Promising second-year players like N’Keal Harry, Jakobi Meyers and Chase Winovich will get a lot more snaps and have a chance to define themselves in this league. On defense, the Patriots have a group of young (mostly rookie) linebackers that will develop. In summary, we will know where our talent level lies after this 2020 season that will feature many unproven Patriots.
– If you want to see what to expect out of N’Keal Harry in 2020 click here.
The Buccaneers will be in year two of a Tom Brady led offense that features Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and most likely, Rob Gronkowski. They have shown a willingness to go all-in on this short Tom Brady era and will likely be a fairly loaded roster by 2021. There is one thing we know for sure. This game will be a key component of the Bill vs. Brady argument regardless of how meaningless that discussion is.
