Shannon Sharpe drops wild prediction for Buccaneers vs 49ers with Tom Brady set to suit up in San Fran for second time in NFL career
Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will take a cross-country trip to Santa Clara this weekend to face the San Francisco 49ers. The Buccaneers are coming off a thrilling Monday night victory against the New Orleans Saints. As for the 49ers, they lost starting quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo last week, after he broke his foot.
"Mr. Irrelevant" Brock Purdy will now start at quarterback, the first of his career. On Friday morning, NFL Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe said that he is taking the San Francisco 49ers to win the ball game.
He said that he believes the 49ers will win 20-16 because he hasn't seen enough consistency from the Buccaneers' offense. He said that he believes that the 49ers defense will be able to stop Brady and the Bucs offense and that Tampa Bay's defense hasn't been that dominant this season.
“I haven’t seen enough consistency in the Bucs offense that’ll make me believe they can get to a number that Brock Purdy can’t reach. The 49ers win a very close game, 20-16.”
.@ShannonSharpe picks Brock Purdy & 49ers to beat Tom Brady, Bucs:
“I haven’t seen enough consistency in the Bucs offense that’ll make me believe they can get to a number that Brock Purdy can’t reach. The 49ers win a very close game, 20-16.” https://t.co/WILtKf3W7f
Sharpe went on to say that the only way the Buccaneers will win is if Brady is given extra time during drives. He stated that even when the Buccaneers have to settle for field goals on drives, they are putting points on the board, and Brady is learning more about the defense to help him succeed late in the game. He did the same thing against the Saints on Monday night, throwing the game-winning touchdown with three seconds remaining on the clock.
Tom Brady talks about his return to the San Francisco Bay area
Seven-time Super Bowl winning quarterback Tom Brady was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay area. He grew up a 49ers fan and had even hoped that the team would draft him. While that story has been told for nearly 23 years, it is always a special trip when the quarterback gets to return home.
Surprisingly, this will only be the second time in his NFL career that he will play in the Bay area. He spoke to reporters about his excitement about returning home. He said that he was initially supposed to play in Candlestick Park in 2008 but that was the season that he tore his ACL so he had to wait eight more seasons to finally get his opportunity.
“I never got a chance to go out there. I was supposed to go out there in ’08 and we had it all set up. We were talking all offseason, my first time going out there, and then I tore my ACL in Week One. So I had to wait another eight years; we went to the new stadium, so I never even got to play in Candlestick.
He added,
It was just great after the game, it was nice for my parents not to have to travel and go to a game for once. It was nice to go to them."
Video: Tom Brady talks about how special this week is, going home to San Francisco to face a 49ers team he grew up cheering for. https://t.co/ROzySavmKr
The Buccaneers need this crucial road win to keep them in contention for the NFC South title and a playoff berth. The Buccaneers are currently 6-6, while the Atlanta Falcons are 5-8.