Falcons' Dante Fowler Jr. Talks Facing Tom Brady: 'He's Dangerous, Even at 42'

Atlanta Falcons defensive end Dante Fowler Jr. said Tuesday that facing Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady is still a significant challenge as the future Hall of Famer plays into his 40s.

Fowler appeared on ESPN's First Take to discuss going against Brady during their stays with the Jacksonville Jaguars and New England Patriots, respectively:

"Brady goes into every game like it's the Super Bowl. I played against him in the AFC Championship with the Jaguars, I was able to get to him twice. Then the next year, we played against him, that was my first game back from serving a one-game suspension and I came back, sacked him, kind of changed the game. But that Super Bowl, it was just different, the way he operated, the way he was on time, it was just different.

"I know that's how it's going to be in Tampa Bay. He's going to have a great offensive line that's going to protect him and he's going to try to get the ball off fast or he's going to do what he does best and check down to a running back. So you just have to get there, have to work together, have to rush together as a team and do what you gotta do to rattle him. Touch his fingers, get him off balance, just to not have him get throws that he throws, because he's dangerous, even at 42."

Fowler and Brady are among the arrivals to what should be a highly competitive NFC South.

The 25-year-old Florida native recorded 27.5 sacks across 63 appearances for the Jaguars and Los Angeles Rams over four years after missing his rookie season with a torn ACL.

He signed a three-year, $45 million contract with the Falcons this offseason, and he'll be expected to provide a major boost to a defense that finished tied for 29th with 28 sacks in 2019.

One of Fowler's biggest tasks will be trying to chase down Brady, who joined the Bucs on a two-year, $50 million deal, in the two head-to-head meetings with Tampa Bay.

The Buccaneers have one of the league's most potent offenses on paper. Brady will lead a group featuring wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, tight ends Cameron Brate and O.J. Howard and running back Ronald Jones II.

Add in the New Orleans Saints, who've captured three straight division titles, and the Carolina Panthers, who are prime bounce-back candidates after adding Teddy Bridgewater and Robby Anderson to reinvigorate the offense, and NFC South could be the league's toughest division.

Saints head coach Sean Payton discussed Brady's arrival to the division in March:

"I don't know that it was that surprising. A lot of times you're kind of behind the scenes in the know relative to where a player like him is going. He's someone that we've got great respect for and obviously he's going to change the bar there. That's the one thing, it's the one player that travels somewhere and it's not, man, we've got to face this really talented player. And that's something that you have to obviously deal with. The thing that is most troubling is you just know he's going to raise the bar relative to how that team then performs. We were on a text not too long ago and I finished my text back to him with hashtag keep the canons quiet. He kind of chuckled and I think that's the one thing he'll bring in such a unique way is his competitive fire. All those things that'll elevate the play of the whole organization."

The NFC playoff race should be intense, with few teams in the conference not expected to at least be competitive in 2020. It's going to make every game important, especially for teams in the NFC South, which won't have many, if any, easy games on their schedule.