By: Jake Lofgren

Has everyone forgotten how inevitable this guy is? Or are we all just deciding to ignore him because he is another year older and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 8-9? Tampa currently has the eighth-highest odds to win the Super Bowl, and with a team that still contains a lot of the pieces that won it two years ago, I think it is pretty likely we will see this team return to the biggest game of the year.

Welcome back to Far-Fetched Friday, where every Friday we give you a bold prediction that we believe will come to fruition. This Friday, we look at a man that you can never count out.

The NFC is Overrated

The NFC is the harder side of the bracket to predict because no team looks unbeatable. The 49ers are the favorites to make it to the Super Bowl, but their hopes lay on a relatively unproven quarterback in Brock Purdy. The Eagles looked dominant all season, with Jalen Hurts putting up a real argument for MVP. All of a sudden, Hurts has been injured, and the Eagles have begun to look far worse. If Hurts does not come back fully healthy, the Eagles are not a team to fear. The Vikings went 13-4 this season, mostly because they went 11-0 in games separated by one possession. Now that statistic is either a sign that they are legit and winning close games for a reason or that they are fraudulent; no inbetween. The Dallas Cowboys finally look like a team that can get the job done in the playoffs, but we've heard this story before about a Mike McCarthy team. The Giants were supposed to win two games this season and are currently playing with house money. Then there is Seattle, who are pretty self-aware that they are lucky to be playing right now.

The Buccaneers are not really being talked about by many people right now, probably because they are the only team in the playoffs with a losing record, but the league should refuse to count out this team in an NFC that is full of question marks.

Experience

Minus perhaps the 49ers, the Buccaneers have the most experienced roster in the NFC. From Tom Brady to Vita Vea to Leonard Fournette to Mike Evans, this team has been around and has done it before. The team did most certainly find a way to underperform all year, but they inevitably still found a way to make it to the playoffs as a host. Win-or-go-home situations usually play out differently than the football we see all season.

The Cowboys are more talented than the Buccaneers, but the Cowboys are not walking into the playoffs on a high after getting whooped by the Commanders last week. The Cowboys have been rolling on offense this season under Dak Prescott and Kellen Moore's play calling. Although, we have seen this offense crumble on a big stage before. The Cowboys and Eagles are both super efficient pass rushers, though that doesn't do much to phase a team like the Bucs, who excel at getting the ball out quickly to receivers. Somehow, Brady just refuses to take sacks.

It took a loss to the eventual champions, LA Rams, to knock them out this season. I fully believe it will take a special game to beat them again this year.

Never Bet Against Tom Brady

The Bucs are so lucky that Tom Brady decided to continue playing football for at least another season. Had Brady not returned, the Bucs would have fallen into an even worse situation and likely would have found themselves in a prime position to draft a new QB this year. Brady is still finding a way to get the job done, even though this season is the first time he has ever finished with a losing record. I mean, we remember this guy almost winning the MVP last year, right? At 44 years old?

Despite any other personal reasons for not retiring, I believe he came back because he didn't want to quit while knowing he still had more football left in the tank. I have learned my lesson betting against him before.

I would say that the Bucs are playing with house money and no pressure on them, even though that isn't really true since they were always supposed to be here since the beginning. I, for one, just won't be surprised when this Bucs team finds its way out of a questionable NFC.