Ever since the Bucs won the Super Bowl in 2020, an interesting thought exercise has been bandied about. In the ultimate “what if” scenario, if a game between the 2002 and 2020 Super Bowl squads, who would come out on top?

Well, an interesting answer was given by one of the head coaches of those teams. Pewter Report happily hosted former Super Bowl-winning head coach Bruce Arians on our Pewter Report Podcast on Wednesday afternoon. In part one of a two-part answer — as Jon Gruden will be on this coming Monday — Arians shared his thoughts while leaning into what the best offensive and defensive matchups would be on both sides of the football.

No doubt, a lot of game planning would be involved.

How Would Bruce Arians Attack Bucs’ Historic 2002 Defense?

There was simply no scoring on the vaunted Bucs’ 2002 defense.

Boasting the likes of Hall of Famers Derrick Brooks, Warren Sapp, Ronde Barber, and John Lynch — and another under consideration in Simeon Rice — it needs little explaining the threat and fear they struck into opposing offenses. That year, Tampa Bay allowed a league-best 12.3 points per game, which remains one of the best single-season marks in modern NFL history.

Being an offensive-minded coach, Bruce Arians realizes the challenge that would be in front of him in this hypothetical matchup. In his corner would be a 2020 Bucs’ offense that averaged 30.8 points per game, which was the third-best total in the league that season. Defense wins championships — but so does having quarterback Tom Brady.

2020 Bucs Offense vs. 2002 Bucs Defense

Arians understandably spent most of the time explaining how he would attack the late Monte Kiffin’s Tampa 2-heavy defensive scheme.

“I think it would be a fantastic matchup. The one guy we would go after is Ronde [Barber],” Arians said with a pause before laughing. “You know how close we are, that’s my nephew. It would be a matchup — they would be rolling over there to ‘Dwighty Smitty’ [Dwight Smith] all day long, because they would be in Tampa 2 a bunch. We played them, I want to say [when I was in] Cleveland.”

Arians would be correct in his recollection, as he was the Browns’ offensive coordinator in 2002 when they ran into the Bucs’ defense. Led by quarterback Tim Couch, they mustered just a field goal in a 17-3 loss. Still, the longtime coach knows how he would approach things offensively if given another chance with better personnel.

Bucs QB Tom Brady and HC Bruce Arians – Photo by: USA Today

No offense to Couch, but Brady is quite the upgrade under center.

“We had a lot of success running at Simeon [Rice] and double-teaming [Warren] Sapp,” Arians said. “You can run left, you can single, but if you run right, you’d better have a double team on him. The best matchup, I think ‘Gronk’ [Rob Gronkowski] would set the edge [so we could] run the ball outside. Gronk, on either one of those defensive ends is a huge mismatch to run the ball outside. I think it would be a great game, Chris Godwin Jr. on Ronde in there, Scotty [Miller] going deep a couple of times.”

While Arians unsurprisingly went without mentioning wide receiver Antonio Brown based on what transpired in 2021 (I bet you can guess), Brown was still an important part of the offense and made the unit even more dangerous when going five-wide. Between Godwin, Brown, Miller, and Mike Evans stretching the field, they would have kept things close, no matter which defense they played.

Outside of a 38-3 loss to the Saints (which Arians later got payback on), there was only one other time in the 20 games they played that season where they scored less than 20 points.

“It would be a Tampa 2 day for them for sure, make us run it,” Arians continued by saying. “We’ll be throwing a lot of inside seams on that Tampa 2, especially to Chris Godwin [laughs]. Again, Gronk is the mismatch in the passing game too, it gives everybody a little bit of an advantage, and of course, ‘Tommy.’ I think that is one of the greatest defenses of all-time, and in my opinion, this is one of the best offenses — without any spring practices or preseason games.”

Bruce Arians Also Discusses The Bucs 2002 Offense vs. Bucs 2020 Defense

What gets overlooked when comparing these two Bucs Super Bowl squads is how things would look on the other side.

If you feel the 2002 defense has the advantage, it gets a lot closer when looking at the challenge the 2020 defense poses. They allowed just 22.2 points per game, which was ranked eighth-best in the league. That would hold up well facing a 2002 offense that scored 21.6 points per game, a middle of the pack total that ranked 18th.

2002 Bucs Offense vs. 2020 Bucs Defense

Of course, there was still star power surrounding quarterback Brad Johnson, most notably fullback Mike Alstott and wide receivers Keyshawn Johnson and Keenan McCardell.

“Stop the run, don’t let [Joe] Jurevicius get across the field running, for sure,” Arians said on what his biggest points of emphasis would be. “I think the deep threats aren’t there, I think our cornerbacks could handle the deep threats, which would allow us to play more in the box. One thing I worry about with Jordan [Whitehead] though, he’ll run into Mike [Alstott], he might not come out. He’s going to jump face first into the fire. Antoine [Winfield Jr.] is going to be a little bit smarter about that, but Jordan is going straight into that fire.

Former Bucs FB Mike Alstott – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“The A-Train would have fell to him once or twice — maybe. Again, such a great matchup, but Jason Pierre-Paul. I love Roman [Oben], I had him up in Cleveland, but I think [Pierre-Paul] wins that battle for sure and Shaq [Barrett] on Kenyatta [Walker]. For us, our defense, it would be getting behind the sticks. Stop the run and make Brad [Johnson] beat you against our blitzes.”

Bruce Arians makes a lot of great points in breaking down what would happen. Both sides would do their best to play their brand of football and get the other to break, making it a close, competitive matchup that would likely come down to a playmaking 2002 defense against a Tom Brady led 2020 offense looking to come out on top.

What do you predict would happen if these two teams ever faced one another? Be sure to let us know and stay on the lookout for what Jon Gruden will say about it on next Monday’s show.

Watch Former Bucs HC Bruce Arians On The Pewter Report Podcast

To listen to former Bucs head coach Bruce Arians discuss the matchup, the 2020 Bucs, his time in Tampa Bay, to his current role now, be sure to watch our 30-minute conversation with “BA” on the Pewter Report Podcast.