-Safety Mike Edwards won NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his two-pick six performance against the Falcons last Sunday. Edwards made both interceptions in the fourth quarter off balls he tipped to himself, running them both into the end zone for a total of 12 points. Let me add, that helped my fantasy team tremendously, so thanks, Mike. He was one of three players to score two touchdowns apiece, which is pretty insane to think about. The Buccaneers now tie for the league lead in defensive touchdowns and perhaps my favorite stat is that Edwards has more touchdown receptions from Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan than any of his receivers do, currently.
Hey, it's a rivalry game, right?
None of this shocked Edwards' teammates, though. Cornerback Carlton Davis, who could have potentially came down with the second interception himself had he been able to track the ball better coming from the other side of the field, was extremely happy for his fellow Grave Digger.
"It was cool," Davis said. "He's a ball hawk. He's definitely underrated in that sense. He's always been that way. He just has a knack for the ball and he's always around it. It was cool to just see him shine when he needed to and when we needed him to. Whenever he is in the game, he's reliable to be around the ball and make a play. Having him in the game and having him on our secondary has always been great for us."
Hopefully not underrated for much longer.
-Edwards wasn't the only one to receive a weekly accolade. Quarterback Tom Brady got 'another one,' winning FedEx Air Player of the Week for the second-consecutive week. It came after a five-touchdown performance, throwing for 276 yards on 24 completions against zero interceptions. Brady now leads the league with nine touchdowns and ranks fifth in passing yards with 655 through the first two weeks of the season.
What else is there to say? This guy is aging backwards.
-Next up is the Los Angeles Rams, a team the Bucs just barely lost to last year on Monday Night Football last season. This time around, they have a new face under center in Matthew Stafford and given his arm strength, he adds a new dimension to this Los Angeles offense: the deep ball.
"Yeah, he likes to take shots," said aforementioned Defensive Player of the Week Mike Edwards about Stafford. "Especially in the opening series, he likes to take shots and keep the defense on their toes. So we've got to be ready for that, keep everything in front of us and limit their explosive plays."
"Yeah, I think so much of it is the IQ of the guy you get, and Matt's got a high IQ," continued Head Coach Bruce Arians on Wednesday. "He can spit the football out. He's just got so much experience versus every coverage. Now, what did we call it, what do you call it? You get through that pretty quickly. So yeah, I think he's one of the few guys – I know I've said it in the past – I like going out and watching warm up because he's got such a tremendous arm and I have a ton of respect for him.
-Gronk watches film, people. After appearing on the Peyton and Eli simulcast during Monday Night Football, Gronk said he just 'goes out there and runs past guys' and that Brady watches enough film for the both of them.
Shockingly, that's not actually true. And you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone that works harder than Gronk. Just ask his girlfriend, Camille Kostek.
"I actually watch tons of film," he admitted. "An overload of film. I would probably blame [Vice President of Communications Nelson Luis] over there. He asked me many times to go on the show and I told him it's not a good idea to put me on the show with the Mannings. They always get me joking around. They always get me in that type of silly atmosphere and that's what happened. But, coach threatened me now that I don't get my vet day anymore because I don't watch film so trust me, I watch so much film, my girlfriend gets mad at me. She freakin throws sh-- at me sometimes because I'm watching so much film."
Yeah, that sounds about right.
Bucs Tweet of the Day:
