'Sunday Night Football': Time, Channel and How to Watch Buccaneers vs. Patriots
Tom Brady is coming home. Tonight, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will face the New England Patriots, and it will be the first time Brady faces his former team. The game will kick off at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC. It will also stream on Peacock, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports App.
After spending 20 seasons with the Patriots, Brady joined the Buccaneers in March 2020. And it turned out to be a great decision for the future Hall of Famer as he led the Buccaneers to a Super Bowl win. And while Brady enjoyed his time in New England, his focus is all about getting a win since the Buccaneers are coming off a loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
"I'm not going to necessarily reminisce," Brady said this week. "I don't think this is the moment for that. I'll have plenty of opportunities to reminisce about my football career — none of it, none of which I really care to do right now because I'm so much in the moment. I'm not going to be thinking about 20 years of history. I'm going to be thinking about one night of football, a Sunday night game coming off a really tough loss."
The Patriots are off to a 1-2 start and have a new quarterback in the mix - rookie Mac Jones. In 2020, the Patriots finished the season with a 7-9 record and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008. Patriots coach Bill Belichick was asked about Brady this week and showed his appreciation for the seven-time Super Bowl champion. However, Belichick is 100% focused on beating Brady and the Buccaneers.
"I'm not going to go back and rehash all that," Belichick said when asked about Brady wanting to stay in New England."We've talked about that. Really my focus is on the game here," Belichick stated. "Look, I have so much respect and appreciation for Tom and everything he did here, and for me and for our team. We're just getting ready to compete against Tampa this week and we're going to keep our focus on that." Another aspect of the game is Rob Gronkowski. The Buccaneers tight end spent nine seasons with the Patriots and won three Super Bowls. However, he will not play in tonight's game due to injured ribs.