The present and future meet the past on Sunday when the Bengals play the Buccaneers on Sunday in Tampa.
Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, in his third season, will stare down Tampa Bay’s Tom Brady, who’s in his 23rd season and, based on his struggles this season, appears to have stayed one season too long.
Brady, who’s won seven Super Bowl rings, is facing Burrow, the No. 1-overall pick in the 2020 draft, for the first time. And he gushed over Burrow.
“He’s a great young player,’’ Brady said. “He’s got a great arm, runs well, very athletic. I’m really impressed by him overcoming the adversities that he has. There were high expectations for him coming out and he’s lived up to it. So, a lot of credit to him, and their team’s done a great job. They were in the Super Bowl last year, they’re playing really well this year. Good defense, good offense, good special teams group. Well-coached. It’s going to be a tough game.”
Burrow, meanwhile, downplayed him matching up with Brady or any comparisons between the two.
“I don’t really pay attention to it,’’ Burrow said this week. “He’s Tom and I’m Joe. It’s our 14th game of the season. Obviously, the greatest quarterback ever is on the other side, but we got a job to do, too, and our job is to go and win, get to 10-4 and move on.”
The Bengals were left for dead after losing their first two games and sitting at 4-4. But they’re now the hottest team in the league, having won their past five games to vault into a tie with the Ravens atop the AFC North at 9-4.
The Buccaneers, meanwhile, have staggered through this season and are 6-7, with Brady often looking every bit of his 45 years.
After averaging more than 30 points per game the past two seasons with Brady, the Bucs are averaging just 17.2 points per game this season, which ranks 28th in the NFL. They’re coming off a 35-7 loss at San Francisco last Sunday.
It’s been a weird year for Brady, because statistically he leads the NFL in completions with 381 and is fourth with 3,585 yards. He had 17 touchdown passes to just five interceptions. Yet the Bucs have struggled to score.
Brady and the Bucs are fortunate the rest of the NFC South is so weak, and they’re actually in the driver’s seat to win the division, in first place one game clear of the Panthers and Falcons with four games remaining.
“The one thing about football is you get what you deserve,’’ Brady said. “You’ve got to go earn it. The Rams were the Super Bowl champions last year. This year they’re not having the kind of year they want. It’s a challenge, and you just try to figure out the challenge
“It’s a long race. It’s not over in Week 13. That’s why you play all 17 [games]. We’ll see where we’re measured at the end of the year.’’
The Bengals got their top receiver Ja’Marr Chase back in the lineup last week after he was sidelined a month with a hip injury and he produced 10 catches for 119 yards and a TD against the Browns last Sunday. Burrow has thrown for 3,685 yards, 27 TDs and nine INTs this season.
This is not good news for the Bucs, who played the 49ers without three starters in the secondary — safeties Antoine Winfield and Mike Edwards, and cornerback Sean Murphy-Bunting.
With Chase back, Burrow at the top of his game and the Bucs defense hurting, Tampa Bay coach Todd Bowles issued a warning to his team — particularly praising Burrow.
“He’s great, he’s poised in the pocket, he throws a great ball all over the field, he can throw at any angle, he can make any throw,’’ Bowles said. “He has some great receivers to throw to, he has a good understanding of the offense and the game, he can take advantage of what you’re trying to give him, he can run the ball when he has to run the ball, he can throw people open, he can use his feet.
“He has a knack for the game. Certain guys when they come out of college that young have a knack for the game already. He has it.”
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