Brady Is Potent With Play-Action
December 5th, 2020
Blind can see but not the Bucs.
Stats like this drive Joe crazy.
Now Bucs fans can debate if the Bucs need to run more play-action passes, but it does seem that park-violating, home-invading, NFLPA-ignoring, down-forgetting, jet-ski-losing, handshake-stiffing Bucs quarterback Tom Brady excels at them.
Jenna Laine of ESPN noted that just last week, Brady completed four of five play-action passes for 86 yards and a touchdown. It seems he should have thrown more.
Since Bucs coach Bucco Bruce Arians has only been around two years, Joe wanted to get an idea if Arians/Leftwich/Brady are calling more play-action passes than Bucs did last year for Mr. Entertainment, America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston.
To Joe’s surprise, not only was Jameis quite good at play-action, he threw about as many per game as Brady is doing this year.
Per Pro Football Reference, Brady throws an average of seven play-action passes a game. He’s ninth in yards passing (782) and 14th in attempts (86). Last year Jameis averaged six play-action passes a game. He was fifth in the league in yards (1,188) and 18th in attempts (107).
As you can see, there’s little difference in Brady’s numbers and Jameis’ numbers except for Jameis’ yards. So Arians/Leftwich/Brady aren’t doing a whole lot different.
If you are curious, last year under Bill Belicheat, Brady averaged eight play-action passes a game. He attempted 126 play-action passes (11th) for 980 yards (10th).
Given that Brady has a much better run game than he did last year with the Belicheats (or that Jameis had with the Bucs last season), Joe would still have Brady use more play-action, given how sharp he is throwing the ball out of his play.
December 5th, 2020 at 5:28 am
This has become maddening. Brady’s not a youngster; we all know what he does well & what he doesn’t. We all know the talent levels we have on this team; what it does well & what it doesn’t. This team’s PERFORMANCE on the field through 12 games has shown us what our strengths are … AND what our weaknesses are. Would somebody (anybody) please explain this to our coaching staff?
IF the Bucs win out, we’d be 11-5, make the playoffs AND most likely go in playing at a high level. Once in, anything can happen. So our goal for these last 4 games should be perfectly clear: Right the ship offensively AND defensively, make the playoffs and go in strong. Ball’s in your court BA.
December 5th, 2020 at 5:29 am
I am all for that, WR’s have lower average catch numbers this year. It will be tough for Evans or Godwin to even break 1000 yards this year.
December 5th, 2020 at 7:33 am
It’s funny how much we make of Brady’s age. Physically I think he looks fine.
Strategically however he’s an old school…read limited…QB. Tom Brady…Peyton Manning…Johnny Unitas…Joe Namath…old school pocket passers DEPEND on their pockets.
Today’s prototype pass rushers make pockets less dependable and require flexibility and mobility. QB’s like Mahomes, Jackson, Wilson and even Aaron Rodgers are able to move their pockets around and feel just as comfortable throwing on the run as from the pocket.
Brady HAS NEVER had that game…it’s not his age…it’s his game that we can focus on. That is what this and the other similar threads are about.
Play Action….possession passes and yes a strong running game are the ingredients that work for these old school QB’s. A monster OL could help but with today’s modern NFL pass rushers…the kind that Joe constantly lusts after…are going to get theirs. The QB HAS to be able to help the OL or the playcalling must.
December 5th, 2020 at 8:12 am
So play-action is all about the same as last year, no matter the coach or the player. With one exception, all this says to me is FIGURE IT OUT BA.
When this team is on, NO ONE CAN STOP THEM. We have seen it with Green Bay, a very good team, in addition to Carolina, etc. The potential is REAL – get it figured out!
The ‘one exception’ is the ridiculous disappearance of the run game. A 2-year old knows better, but apparently not BL. I don’t care what the score is BL, mix the run game in; NOT every first down, sometimes; NOT every time behind Godwin in motion, but sometimes, etc. MIX IT UP and IN. Balance the attack and all will be well.
December 5th, 2020 at 8:12 am
True enough, ST PETE
One problem the team has shown all too often is that they fail to keep the ball
more than three downs a bit too much. They need the bye to fix execution and
communication errors on both sides of the ball.
So far we have gambled on the raw talent of Jameis and now we are trying to adapt to different offense because of Brady’s skillset. So far its a mixed bag and
some coaches may be replaced if the experiment fails.
December 5th, 2020 at 12:55 pm
some coaches may be replaced ?
who is going to replace them ? BA?