Carl Nassib or Tom Brady?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers pulled off a ridiculous 17-16 comeback victory over the New Orleans Saints in front of a prime-time audience on Monday night, and in the process may have saved their 2022 season. It was an emotional victory that had its fair share of individual heroes.

There was, of course, Tom Brady leading the 44th fourth-quarter comeback of his career to set a new NFL record. His two touchdown passes in the last four minutes of the game incredibly went to two different rookies, first tight end Cade Otton and then running back Rachaad White. Julio Jones turned in a marvelous clutch catch just before the winning core. Chris Godwin had eight catches while White and fellow back Leonard Fournette kept the chains moving with six grabs each.

Tampa Bay’s defense gave Tom Brady a chance by allowing only one touchdown, turning three red zone chances for the Saints into field goals and forcing two punts in the last five minutes of the game. Outside linebacker Carl Nassib had two key stops late in the fourth quarter and safety Keanu Neal’s timely hit on Taysom Hill gave the Buccaneers one last chance. Lavonte David was all over the field with 12 tackles, a sack and two stops for loss.

These are some of the candidates that Staff Writer/Reporter Brianna Dix and I have been mulling over since last night. After every Buccaneer victory this season, we are tasked with nominating two players for the singular honor of our Game Ball. Those two are then included in a list of four candidates…and then the final decision is up to you. After you review the cases we make for two of those players, you will find a link at the bottom of the page to place your vote.

Since we can’t duplicate votes and getting the first pick could be important, we are going to alternate the order of our choices from week to week. It’s Brianna’s turn to go first.

So, who should get this week’s Game Ball? Here are our suggestions.

Brianna Dix: OLB Carl Nassib

Scott, as you mentioned, many individual performances in last night’s thrilling victory swayed the outcome. For the purposes of this game ball award – fueled by an excess amount of coffee – I am going to go with outside linebacker Carl Nassib. In the absence of the injured Shaq Barrett, Nassib has taken advantage of opportunities. He made many timely plays in Week 13’s 17-16 win over the Saints, including a sack on Andy Dalton under the three-minute warning that provided hope and shifted the momentum. The surging rally began with a 91-yard…