The Value Of Tom Brady
July 6th, 2022
Savior.
There is a split decision at JoeBucsFan.com world headquarters, and it has nothing to do with the fridge being stocked with Bromosa.
The first four games are ugly, believes one Joe. Why? Because the Bucs are weaker on offense than last year (not to be confused with “weak,” but rather “weaker”). So this Joe would be content if the Bucs are 2-2 after facing the Cowboys, slimy Saints, Packers and Chiefs to open the season.
The other Joe cries “BULLS(P)IT!” and doesn’t believe the opening schedule is that difficult and anything less than a 3-1 record after the first four games is an outrage and fully unacceptable.
Adam Rank of NFL.com asks, if the Bucs didn’t have Tom Brady, would the Bucs be 0-4 to open the season? That’s how much stock he puts in Brady’s value.
I mean, the Buccaneers can’t afford to lose to the Saints again, can they? Honestly, I can’t imagine Tampa winning any of the first four games of the season — against the Cowboys, Saints, Packers and Chiefs — if Brady wasn’t the quarterback.
This is an interesting point. If Brady had stayed retired, would the Bucs even win one of the first four games with Blaine Gabbert or Kyle Trask as the starting quarterback? Joe sort of leans, yeah, maybe one game. Upsets happen.
(Yes, Joe realizes TV networks would have rejected giving the Bucs four popular opponents to start the season without Brady on the team, especially Dallas on opening day.)
As the great Ira Kaufman said when Brady returned from retirement, the Bucs without Brady were “peering into the abyss.”
July 6th, 2022 at 3:55 am
The good news is Dallas should be worse offensively, Saints will have Jameis coming off an acl, but that doesn’t mean a whole lot… It’s the aints. Green Bay will be worse offensively, more running from them, but their defense is very good. Probably the best since their SB year. Chiefs seem worse offensively, but better defensively. We shall see, but, while we got weaker offensively, our guys should step up. Scotty is healthy, Gage will hopefully be healthy and on the same page as Brady. The other guys know what to do. I’m worried about the D line, but our secondary should be improved. There’ll be some nail biters for sure.
July 6th, 2022 at 4:08 am
If we don’t have Brady then we probably end up with Baker and we could easily go 2-2 with him.
It’s laughable when people make these arguments. What does any team look like without their starting QB? Of course we’d suck without Brady. And the Chiefs would suck without Mahomes, the Cowboys without Dak, the Packers without Rodgers, the Saints without Jameis.
I’m not buying the Blaine Gabbert stuff. Licht would’ve made an upgrade. We’d still be favorites to win the division
July 6th, 2022 at 5:52 am
There’s no question in my mind that having Tom Brady makes a HUUUGE difference for the Bucs’ offensive attack. But at the same time, our offense would operate very differently IMO if Tom Brady weren’t the QB, so comparisons are difficult to make. IOW, we throw more than anyone else BECAUSE we have Tom Brady. I doubt that would be the case if Gabbert or Trask were starting.
I keep wondering what our attack scheme would look like IF we were starting Kyle Trask. I tend to think that it’d look much like what the Patriots’ offense looked like this past season with rookie Mac Jones starting. Pats had 1052 offensive plays on the season, and ran on 489 of those (46.5% run-pass ratio). Their rushing attack produced 2151 yards (4.4 YPR) and scored as many TDs (24) as their passing attack did.
Their primary RBs (Harris, Stevenson & Bolden) were still somewhat involved in the passing game as well. Together those 3 were targeted 88 times with 73 catches (83%) for 560 yards & 2 TDs. That’s roughly what Lenny produced by himself last season in the passing game for us. Bucs’ primary RBs last year (Fournette, RoJo, Gio & Vaughn) were actually involved in the passing game quite a bit more than that … targeted 134 times with 106 catches (79%) for 667 yards & 5 TDs.
July 6th, 2022 at 7:04 am
I’ve been reading this here website long enough that to hear about Joe’s drinking craft beer still weirds me out.
July 6th, 2022 at 7:32 am
There is no question that Brady makes a difference……but we have him for now so why speculate how things would be without him.
We have no real idea what our offense would look like with Trask or Gabbert…..
I do suspect we should run more…..but I think we should run more with the Brady offense…..we’ve got the oline….we’ve got the RBs…..RUN!!!
July 6th, 2022 at 7:59 am
Without Brady we are screwed.
Next year without Brady, we are really screwed
July 6th, 2022 at 8:04 am
Tom Brady was a top MVP candidate last season & I’m still befuddled as to how the heck the Cheesehead won. Just knowing the high calibre of play the GOAT is consistently performing at, speaks for itself… Brady is a top 3 quarterback in the league & there’s no replacing that > #HellsToTheNo #LFG
July 6th, 2022 at 8:11 am
Run, and play action. I think our rookie RB is going to make our offense hard to deal with. Brady loves backs that can run good routes, and can catch the ball. Lenny has gotten better, Jones was never any good, White could be special catching the ball something we’ve been missing back there. Think our offense in Tom’s third year now comes out humming. We’re looking at the first four games wrong. Those teams should be the ones thinking loss when they see us on the schedule.
July 6th, 2022 at 8:16 am
Dallas and New Orleans both have good Defenses. Bucs will have 4 new starters on Offense, including replacing 3 pro bowlers. It is understandable the Offense may struggle a bit to start the season, especially on the road.
Anything can happen once the game starts, turnovers being a big factor, but even if the Bucs start 0-2, the warrior Brady will rally the team to 2-2 .
July 6th, 2022 at 8:36 am
Torture… these DEAD SEASON articles are TORTURE
July 6th, 2022 at 8:41 am
Gisele’s husband can’t throw and catch the ball at the same time.
Help is needed, and it isn’t just for the first 4 games. No one knows when Godwin will be back, and when he returns, when Godwin will start playing like Godwin. Gronk is gone, and only a fool would plan on him returning. AB is gone. Gage is untested, and besides, he isn’t worthy of being mentioned in the same sentence as Gronk, Godwin, or AB.
Odell is out there. Like Godwin, it’s a gamble on when he’ll return and how capable he’ll be by late season. I think ownership should invest in this season, it might be the last shot at a Super Bowl.
July 6th, 2022 at 8:58 am
BRADY IS INVALUABLE TO OUR TEAMS SUCCESS AT THIS TIME..KYLE TRASK WILL BEAT OUT GABBERT FOR THE BACKUP JOB THIS SEASON BUT NEXT YEAR IF BRADY DOES PLAY, LET IT BE FOR THE BUCCANEERS AS A PLAYER/OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR IF WE LOSE BYRON LEFTWICH TO A HEAD COACHING POSITION NEXT YEAR..WE NEED TO KEEP TOM BRADY IN SOME COMPASITY FOR YEARS TO COME..HE HAS A BRILLIANT FOOTBALL MIND & WE CAN’T ALLOW OURSELVES TO LOSE HIM TO ANY OTHER TEAM (LIKE THE DOLPHINS) OR ANY OTHER TEAM..HE IS TOO VALUABLE AS AN OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR OR AS A SCOUT, ANYTHING..HIS NAME ALONE SELLS TICKETS & WILL DO SO AS LONG AS HE IS A PART OF “OUR TEAM”..
July 6th, 2022 at 9:23 am
Many fans worship the ground Arians walks on but I see a coach who couldn’t beat the Saints in a regular season game. For all his “greatness” you cant omit that fact.
Yes, we won the Chicom CoVid bowl but still lost both regular season games to the Saints again. The following year we got blanked and thumped.
July 6th, 2022 at 9:26 am
0-4 is still a possibility. I think 2-2 would be fine, I’d be happy with that.
Questionable pass rush and coverages. No Suh = weaker against the run. No Gronk, no Godwin, and an unprepared Gage, the passing offense could look like the first 3 quarters of the Jets game or worse.
The running game needs to shine. Critical.
July 6th, 2022 at 9:45 am
These are 4 teams who also have their fair share of turnover. No cheetah, no Adams, no problem.
July 6th, 2022 at 9:49 am
Of course what is not laughable but instead is very real is “any team” didn’t have a 44-year old QB who actually did retire and had to be coaxed back to play, likely only for 2022.
July 6th, 2022 at 9:57 am
Probably not. How many contracts were restructured to keep the team together (nearly) and how many besides Lenny were looking for greener pastures BEFORE getting the word from Tom that he was un-retiring? I’ll add Gronk to that list as I’ll still lay money that he’ll be back for Game One. Vivie says Gronky is just being Gronky.
July 6th, 2022 at 10:23 am
My $100 bucks says Gronk plays for maybe 10 games.
July 6th, 2022 at 10:25 am
I agree with many of the above comments. All 4 of the teams in the first 4 games have been seriously impacted offensively. 3 of the teams, Dallas, Green Bay and Chiefs lost their best WR, and Jameis will likely be hobbled at the beginning of the season. But ALL these teams have good D.
The Bucs, in the beginning of the season are replacing 3 Pro Bowlers on offense alone. Marpet’s replacement I am not worried about. Godwin will be back eventually, so ok. But losing Gronk hurts – that is a big #1 concern on offense – that seriously impacts the dynamics of our offense. So, IMO we are on par with our first 4 opponents.
On D, are we ok? I am NOT convinced we are better. I think our secondary is better thru additions and that the Bucs are not as likely to have so many injuries in the secondary. The front 7? A lot of questions. Will LVD’s foot hold up one more year? I think JTS will be at least as productive as hobbled JPP was last year. But what about “injury prone” VV and Hicks? Will Hicks adequately replace Suh in the run D (I think he is better in pass rush)? Do we have the depth all across the line?
But I would be ok with 2-2 to start, and that is very likely.
July 6th, 2022 at 11:00 am
Biff Barker … ‘I see a coach (BA) who couldn’t beat the Saints in a regular season game’.
The Saints have an excellent track record against the Bucs, not just since 2019 when BA came. Since Sean Payton arrived, they’ve only had 2 DCs, Rob Ryan (2013-2015) and Dennis Allen (2015-2021). Since Payton was hired (2013), the Saints are 14-4 against the Bucs in regular season, including 6-0 since 2019 when Bruce Arians was hired here.
And it’s not like our losses were close games. They weren’t; we got whooped solidly when we lost. Payton & Brees made a great combo offensively, but the bigger reality IMO is that Ryan & Allen knew how to push the right buttons defensively. Their Saints’ defenses punched us in the mouth & played good old-fashioned smashmouth football (might’ve even bordered on dirty sometimes).
And since the Bucs have been more offense-oriented since 2015 (at least), we’ve had difficulty playing that type of game. We haven’t been a grind-em-out, run-it-down-your-throat, control-the-clock football team in many years. The passing game can be a beautiful thing when it’s clicking, BUT against strong, aggressive defenses with excellent pass rush AND solid Secondary play it can hiccup. And we’ve hiccuped more against the Saints than against anyone else when their defense is solid.
July 6th, 2022 at 11:52 am
DR. Correct. Pass to score, run to win. We can not not against NO.
I still like BA but in terms of beating NOLA, He’s a loser.
July 6th, 2022 at 1:45 pm
Like Passing said, Brady can’t carry a team by himself anymore. We saw evidence of that his last year in NE. It’s the sole reason he picked Tampa in the first place. This is the worst group of pass catchers in Brady’s three years with the bucs. I don’t expect the gaudy numbers of last year. They’ll still be a formidable offense, just in a different way.
I expect more high percentage throws from Brady, and, at least early on, a bigger emphasis on the running attack. They didn’t trade for one of the best run blocking guards, and draft a run blocking LG to throw 700 times. Evans will undoubtedly receive more attention. nobody knows when Godwin will return, and what he’ll look like when he does. If they stand pat in the TE room, it’s hard to imagine much of a contribution from that group. Gage is a fine player, but I’m reserving judgement until I see how he fits in the offense.
2-2 at worst, and 3-1 at best. Without Brady, lol 0-4 or 1-3, maybe 0-5
July 6th, 2022 at 3:19 pm
Anything less than a 3-1 record after the first four games is an outrage and fully unacceptable.
Haven’t I read on JBF in the last few weeks that we have the number 1 offensive line and the number 1 set of corners.
On top of that Brady. HOF Evans, stud running back Lenny, and a future Calais Campbell in Logan Hall.
We are stacked!
Good time of year to be optimistic. Why not.
July 7th, 2022 at 9:48 am
2-2? Spoken like a true Bucs fan. No reason they can’t win all four games. Let those teams worry about us, not the other way around. Some of you are so used to losing, can’t see that this is a Super Bowl caliper team. GOBUCS!