No Sunday Night Audience, But Tampa Bay Bucs and Brady Impress Afternoon TV Watchers With 45-20 Win Over Raiders At Fan-Free Allegiant Stadium Sunday
By Alan Snel of LVSportsBiz.com
Before COVID-19, the ticket to watch the Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs Las Vegas Raiders at new Allegiant Stadium was costing hundreds of dollars on the secondary market. The Bucs’ Tom Brady was a big draw — so much so that iy was originally slated for Sunday Night Football on NBC>
But the novel coronavirus pandemic changed all that. Not a single fan has been allowed inside the palatial domed football playground that cost $2 billion to build, including $750 million in public dollars — a record subsidy for an NFL stadium.
So, people watched the game on TVs from Southern Nevada to Western Florida and enjoyed a competitive game for a little more than three quarters, with 43-year-old Brady winging the football around the retractable playing field like a spry 20-something. The media section is way up here near the roof, but from my perch it looked like Brady was zipping the ball to receivers quite well. The Raiders cut a Bucs’ lead from 24-17 to 24-20 in the fourth quarter, but the Brady-led Bucs scored three 4Q touchdowns to salt away the triumph, 45-20.
Brady completed passes to nine different players and each of his four touchdown passes went to different players, too, including his pal, Gronk.
Brady seems like he’s fitting in Tampa quite nicely. He lives in Derek Jeter’s former mega-mansion on Davis Islands across a narrow waterway from downtown Tampa and he controlled the fourth quarter against the Raiders’ out-matched defense much like Jeter handled post-season games. With poise and clutch plays.
I’d like to say two things. No. 1, I’d like to congratulate Tampa Bay. That was an impressive football team. The second things, I’m proud of our guys, too. I’m really proud of our team. We had a tough week. We were in the ball game. Seven to eight minutes left, 24-20. Got away from us at the end. But I’m really proud of our football team. We just have to play better. Obviously, on defense, we got better players. We have to play better, we will. Disappointing, but credit to Tampa Bay they’re a great football team, and I think we are, too. — Raiders coach Jon Gruden
It’s still strange to witness an NFL game in person with no fans. . While TV pipes in the cheers and artificial crowd noise, the media can hear the players’ cheers up here in the press box from the field. There is a venue DJ, good ol’ Jake Wagner from the Golden Knights games playing tunes over the venue’s powerful audio system.
The Raiders played gamely into the final period. But their defense wilted as the Bucs piled on three touchdowns. The Raiders’ running game sputtered and quarterback Derek Carr did the best he could to keep the Las Vegas franchise in the game.
Here’s coach Jon Gruden after the game:
Raiders quarterback Derek Carr said he’s not making excuses after a week dominated by COVID-19 problems. Read his thoughts.
Kolton Miller, a Raiders offensive tackle, offered these post-game views:
