Week two is in the books and some of the Super Bowl betting favourites have already laid down a marker for the season. The Chiefs, Ravens, Packers, Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams have all impressed with 2-0 starts. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady, former partners now rivals, have led their franchises to difficult 1-1 starts although it wouldn’t be wise to rule either the Patriots or the Buccaneers out at this early stage of the season.

The Kansas City Chiefs @ Baltimore Ravens is the standout fixture of this week’s schedule although there is plenty of other top games on offer.

Let’s take a look at this week’s games.

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It was inevitable to see some players to jump over to join the Buccaneers once Tom Brady made his announcement. There were some rumours about who was going to join but not many predicted the All-Pro to sign up with his former teammate.

Tight End Rob Gronkowski gets traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. After a stint in the World Wrestling Entertainment inc (WWE) “Gronk” wanted to come back to play in the NFL. Apparently the TE only wanted to come out of retirement in order to continue playing with Tom Brady. The trade gives the Patriots a 4^th round pick while Tampa Bay receive a 7^th round pick. Apparently, the tight end has already started to put on weight for his return to the NFL.

There is no doubt that two former New England elites will completely change the look of the Buccaneers. Tampa Bay has not looked like challenging for anything in recent years. The vast experience and elite mentality between Brady and “Gronk” is bound to have a positive impact on the current and future roster of Tampa Bay.

The Patriots had already written off the tight end as being an asset to the team. Will a 4^th round draft pick be able to make up for such a loss? It is extremely unlikely that 4^th round pick will see a successor anywhere near the quality of Tom Brady or Rob Gronkowski. Although the Patriots have a record of late picks being superstars, evident by the fact that Brady was 199^th draft pick back in 2000. There will not be many more 6^th round NFL picks that are going to be Hall of Famers.

How will it affect the Tampa Bay Buccaneers?

The odds for Tampa Bay to win the Superbowl already received a big cut once Tom Brady had joined their roster. After adding another big name with “Gronk” to the roster, the Buccaneers have become the 4^th favourites at (+1100) to win the Superbowl. The 31-year-old tight end had his lowest yards per catch and yards per target in 2018. He averaged 14.5 yards per catch and 9.5 yards per target. These were his lowest numbers since 2015.

It is important to keep in mind that he was playing alongside Julien Edelmenn, Josh Gordan and Philip Dorsett. Now he is going to have Godwin and Evans beside his who are more can capable of taking double teams off his hands. Tampa Bay are building a very powerful looking offense and if they can improve their defence from the draft or through trades, they could make a solid run at the Superbowl.

A big factor for whether the Buccaneers can win the division or Superbowl will all depend on whether they can keep their main players healthy. They are competing in a tough division and it won’t be a walk in the park. Tom Brady certainly has a lot of firepower to deal with and it going to take apart several defences. Unlike the Ravens from last season, Brady and Gronk can take the winning mentality throughout the whole competition.

We’re only a couple of days away now from the 2020 NFL Draft that will be held virtually. Rather than fans, teams, and next year’s rookie class making the trip to Las Vegas for the draft, each player will have their reaction live streamed from their living room surrounded by their families.

This is always a great night for fans and players but it has taken on added importance this year. Given the current situation, this could be the biggest sporting event of the year and will definitely be the most watched sporting event of April 2020.

With that in mind, we have taken a look at all of the potential 1st Round picks and where you should be betting on next week.

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Tom Brady joins the Tampa Bay Buccaneers

How did we get to this point? Many are speculating it is all because of the 2017 trade that seen Jimmy Garoppolo go to the San Francisco 49ers. All this is fuelled by the rumour mill which claimed that Bill Belichick needed to trade a quarterback and chose Brady before being shut down by Kraft. Even with this speculation and rumours both Brady and Belichick are among the most experienced people in the game and it is extremely doubtful that it has led on to Brady leaving New England.

It is more likely that Tom Brady is feeling a little past his prime and is just taking a step down from a top NFL side to more of an underdog team. Let’s not forget the huge payday which will come alongside his 2-year deal with Tampa. It is estimated by NFL Network that the deal is around $30 million USD a year. It is almost a full $10 million more than what he was earning at the Patriots.

Tom Brady has been known to accept contracts under market value for a player of his stature so that the team could build a better roster. It is estimated that he has sacrificed between $60-$100 million. Many people across America would be willing to sacrifice that for 6 Superbowl rings and being called the greatest to ever play.

Always in conversations about being the best of all time what will the 42-year-old bring to the Buccaneers? After his sparkling 20-year career with the Patriots what has the future Hall of Famer left to give?

The Impact of Tom Brady

After signing a 2-year deal with Tampa we are going to see some big changes for them in the NFL. They are already discussing the fact that more free agents want to sign for Tampa Bay since the announcement that they were signing Brady. Even after last season not being near his best ranking outside of the top 10 quarterbacks for the year, we know that Tom Brady has a lot in his locker.

Season tickets for the Buccaneers had thousands of people in line on Tuesday after it was announced that Brady was expected to join the Buccaneers. Tampa Bay ranked 30^th in the NFL last season in attendance. It is a guarantee that won’t be the case this season with a superstar joining their ranks. The mix of attention and prestige of having Tom Brady will see the Florida franchise be expecting a much higher finish to the coming season.

The Patriots odds on winning the Superbowl 2021 have gone from +1200 to +1600 since Brady left. His impact on the Buccaneers has been much more significant. Tampa Bay were +50000 to win next year’s Superbowl just last week with CanPlay. As soon as Brady announced his signing their odds have dropped significantly to be even with New England at +1600. The most shocking fact around this is that the Buccaneers haven’t made the playoffs since 2007.

Only time will tell if Tom Brady can lead the Buccaneers to glory, but his sheer competitiveness and attitude will certainly push them in the right direction to make their way to the playoffs. Depending on how the rest of the trade goes we could see the odds for the Buccaneers go down even further so if you have faith in the future Hall of Famer back Tampa Bay here at Canplay.

Super Bowl LIV

Kansas City Chiefs vs San Francisco 49ers

Sunday 2nd February 6:30PM

This is it – the greatest night in your sporting calendar.

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There’s a bit of a false claim that circles professional sport – that nobody ever remembers the losers from a final.

That’s not true, nor is losing a final the cruelest fate in any sport.

The AFC and NFC title games are this weekend, and I can assure you there’s nothing worse than losing out here and never even getting the chance to hoist the Vince Lombardi trophy.

Yes, watching your opposition win it all at your expense is a tough pill to swallow but to not take part in the biggest sporting showcase in the world is tougher to come to terms with than wondering what went wrong on the day.

Two teams are going to feel that pain this week – but who?

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So, the New England Patriots aren’t in the final eight and there’s something both uncertain and gorgeously comforting about that.

But for the first time in two decades, it’s time for us all to stop thinking about that cursed franchise and focus on the new-age NFL success stories.

The starring cast consists of Kyle Shanahan, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and.. Ryan Tannehill?

If you thought last week’s drama was something – and it was – wait until you see what the Divisional Round has in store for you, folks.

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The fun and the games are over – the serious business is underway. The NFL playoffs give us the 12 teams who can beat each other: to this point, the teams who have shown enough variation in scheme and play-calling as well as enough belief in analytics, will now face off, knowing one more loss ends the road for them.

These next three weeks are a road to Super Bowl LIV, and only two sides will be making the flight to Miami to contest it. That all starts with the Wild Card round, where the so-called top-end teams can sit on their couches and study tape on their potential opponents.

But some will tell you they value the momentum more than the rehab. Who’s going to hit next week like a steam train? Let’s find out.

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Week 17 is the most difficult week to land some big bets in the entire NFL season. The primary reason for this because it’s hard to analyse just how motivated the teams are.

On one hand, you have the likes of the Baltimore Ravens who are guaranteed home-field advantage through the playoffs now, while the likes of the Los Angeles Chargers have zero motivation to go to Kansas City and win, given they could lose out on a potential replacement for Philip Rivers.

As Walter White once famously said to his brother-in-law Hank Schrader in Breaking Bad, it’s perhaps best practice to ‘tread lightly’ in the final week of the NFL regular season.

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Week 16 – everyone’s biggest fear.

That’s largely due to the fact that you’re either playing meaningful football or you’re not and players pre-game aren’t even sure which to be more nervous about.

On one hand, it’s important to be contending at this time of year, but on the other hand, the nerves leading into a game that matters can be exceptionally tense and cause inexplicable dips in form.

You need to be aware of these perms when betting on Week 16, because nothing is truly as it seems. My suggestion? Focus more on coaching than on the individual players.

This is the week you see aggressive coaches lose their strut and go conservative.

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You probably thought a week was a long time in the NFL as your favourite fluctuates between good and well, not so good.

But the New England Patriots found out last week that a mere hour is long enough in the National Football League.

Fresh off the back of a heartbreaking loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in which they can feel exceptionally aggrieved for the officiating they encountered, they were thrust into chaos once again for all the wrong reasons.

As their ill-thoughts of the league were in full swing, they would be slapped on the wrist for filming the Cincinnati Bengals sideline, featuring their coaching signals.

You just can’t help yourselves, can you New England? Let’s see what sweet ironies await us in week 15.

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December, or as I call it, the month where I get to blissfully laugh at the New England Patriots, before strolling into work like Homer Simpsons warning of the rapture, declaring how there isn’t a hope in hell that New England are winning the Super Bowl this year.

The tradition almost supersedes the conviction at this point. It’s become a hobby, pastime and tradition all in one, and if I didn’t do it, it’s almost people would suspect that something is wrong.

But as I know well, I’ll be sat, drunk, in a bar at 4.30am come February as Tom Brady stands in front of me, in 4k definition, hoisting yet another Championship while I fall asleep into my pint.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to week 14.

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