Only one other team in NFL history knows what the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are going through. When the Bucs take the field on Sunday in Green Bay and face the Packers in the NFC Championship, they will join the 2017 Minnesota Vikings as these are just two teams that reached the conference title game the same year as their Stadium. host the Super Bowl. One win and the Bucs will return to Raymond James Stadium for Super Bowl LV, making them the first team to reach the big game that takes place in their stadium.
Of course, it can be tempting to dream about that rare edge on the pitch when bidding for a Lombardi, especially as the stadium is currently preparing to host the Super Bowl. That said, Bruce Arians is making it known throughout the facility that this kind of thinking is exactly the formula to end the Bucs’ season this weekend at Lambeau Field.
“We’re not playing this game this week,” the head coach told reporters on Wednesday, when asked about practicing training near the stadium as he prepared for the Super Bowl. “That’s the message to everyone. We’re playing the Packers in the NFC championship game. You start to think about the Super Bowl, you’ll get your ass pounded and pack your bags on Monday.”
Of course, this is the right way to approach this game and the right message to send if you are Arians. Confronting Aaron Rodgers and the Packers won’t be an easy task for the Bucs, who are currently considered a three-point underdog at Green Bay. The good thing for the Arians is that he’s probably not the only one getting this message across as his quarterback Tom Brady, while playing in his 14th conference title game, knows it’s only ‘a simple springboard to the ultimate goal.
“We haven’t had too much of a talk about these things yet,” Brady said Wednesday, noting the team have been away for the past two days. “I think everyone understands the meaning of these [games]. It is very difficult to get to this point – to be [the remaining] four of 32 [teams]. I think we’re all excited for this, but I certainly understand that we have a lot of planning to do. We’re going to take every minute before kickoff to get ready. “
The Bucs have some confidence heading into this game as they were able to beat the Packers rather convincingly in Week 6, when they started Rodgers in two interceptions. However, with a similar feeling of not considering the next round, Arians was quick to throw cold water on the idea that the players could rely too much on this regular season win over Green Bay.
“It was the same as the Saints last week, having beaten us twice [and] bad enough, once, ”Arians said. We won that baseball game. You cannot fall into the trap of what happened the last time. It’s a much better football team [and] we are a much better football team. Both [teams are] very different right now, so you better take care of today’s work every day. “
The Bucs and Packers kick off the NFC title game on Sunday at 3:05 p.m. ET.
