“He Wasn’t Open”
December 6th, 2022
When Joe finished giving right tackle a standing ovation for stoning slimy Saints edge rusher Cameron Jordan on 54 Tom Brady pass attempts, Joe then gave another standing “O” to Julio Jones.
First, how bout Julio now playing in five consecutive games for the Bucs. That says a lot considering his past injury issues.
Before the season, Joe wouldn’t have wagered more than 75 cents on Julio playing five straight for the Bucs this season, and he’s gotten a lot of snaps in each game.
Tonight, Julio was doing Julio things again, playing hard and flashing magic. He got open deep but Tom Brady overthrew him, but then Julio came up huge on the final drive. Tom Brady threw to double-covered Julio with about 40 seconds remaining at the Saints’ 20 yard line.
The result is in the video below, a 15-yard, body-control grab that saw Julio snatch the ball away from a defender. As Buccaneers Radio Network game analyst Dave Moore bellowed, “He wasn’t open.”
It didn’t matter.
Joe hopes Brady and playcaller Byron Leftwich are prompted to realize they can throw more balls like that, the kind that give Mike Evans and Julio a chance to win 50-50 when they’re not necessarily open. Each is one of the best in the game, when healthy, at that difficult art.
For Joe, that catch — and the final drive — represented what the Bucs are supposed to be this season on offense. Diverse, lethal and more talented than nearly every offense in the league.
See you in San Francisco, Julio!
— SportsGridRadio (@SportsGridRadio) December 6, 2022
December 6th, 2022 at 1:05 am
Boron gonna Boron.
December 6th, 2022 at 1:07 am
I’ll blast that idiot Leftwich every chance I get, but Brady not throwing to Evans when he’s covered, I think that’s more about Brady than anything.
What makes Mike special is that he makes 50/50 balls into 90/10 balls, he’s catching it or knocking it away nearly every time. That’s what Winston used to do, just throw it up, and let Mike make an amazing play. That’s the one and only area where I wish Brady had a bit more gunslinger in him and just let his star guys make plays, not just in crunchtime.
Also Brady has thrown an INT in 3 games, and we won all 3 of them.
Turns out you win games by scoring more points than the other team, not by winning the TO column on the stat sheet.
December 6th, 2022 at 2:25 am
Say what you want about Evans, but that pass that 45 year old Brady threw 65 yards to Evans in the end zone, Evans was more concerned about getting an interference call than catching the ball. This is becoming a habit of Mike’s. Watch the film, all he had to do is reach out and catch it. If the ref doesn’t call interference we lose the game. It’s alright to try to get the interference call, but still try to catch the ball. It almost hit him in the hsnds.
December 6th, 2022 at 3:06 am
Yup.
December 6th, 2022 at 4:06 am
Hate to have to explain this to you Joe, but it’s Brady’s decision to throw 50/50 balls, not BL. Brady did everything it took to win the game, but his decision making was tepid all game before that last 4 minutes. There were a lot of open receivers and plenty of 1on1 matchups during the game but Brady kept dumping it off short. I don’t know what’s in his head but he doesn’t seem to trust his long ball right now.
December 6th, 2022 at 6:38 am
SPARKY,
I agree with u 100%. MEvans main concern on most catchable passes is to look more for a flag than go catch the darn ball. He did the same thing last week against the Browns but didn’t get a flag and it was obvious that he flat out gave up on the play which was a catchable ball. This has become the norm for him. I almost puked. No one is calling Evans out on his poor work ethics n many times he give up on some difficult but catchable passes.
December 6th, 2022 at 6:38 am
He snagged the b**ch out the air I was were the ball go
December 6th, 2022 at 6:39 am
@Sparky. Bingo! I love Mike to death, but it feels like fans don’t like when he’s criticized. He pulls up on routes far too often. I think that’s why Brady doesn’t trust him with 50/50 balls sometimes. That pass in the EZ to Mike should’ve been a TD had he tried. Brady struggled with accuracy tonight, but that ball was on the money.
December 6th, 2022 at 7:14 am
Brady has been playing much more timid this year……until he doesn’t have to.
December 6th, 2022 at 7:27 am
Sirclick, watch the clip again Jones is open in front of the DB and the ball got there before the safety could. Great pass & catch. The camera man panned Brady’s view all night, I didn’t see once a Bucs wr was even close to open like the Saints wr were. Yes he over threw Jones, the pass to Evan’s in the end zone, he quit again. There are only 4 guys in the league last night that pull that off, Brady, Allen, Mahomes and Dalton because he was playing against the Bucs secondary.
December 6th, 2022 at 7:39 am
For three games in a row I’ve watched Smith grabbing and holding; he cannot protect Brady; he’s going to get Brady killed someday. He cannot contain guys who are quick—he reminds me of a turnstile. Don’t the coaches see the same thing I’m seeing when they review films? No wonder he leads the league in penalties. He has got to be benched; he’s costing the team over and over again. He simply has to hold because he constantly gets beaten. It’s sad to watch.
December 6th, 2022 at 8:31 am
Please tell me why we don’t go no huddle the entire game and let Brady call the play at the line. We don’t have to go hurry up but we could go no huddle. It really stresses a defense and we play much better.
December 6th, 2022 at 9:40 am
I have seen Mike Evans shy away from catching passes all season long after the brutal hit he took in the NFC Championship game against the Rams last year.
Mike Evans does not want to catch the ball this year, he doesn’t want to get hit! Seems he is turning into a professional 🐈⬛ this season.
Too bad, he used to be the best!
December 6th, 2022 at 12:13 pm
I wish someone that had the ability to ask the players questions would ask Mike why it seems this season he’s more worried about getting the flag than making the catch? He’s giving up on plays when he feels there’s a penalty. I was also yelling last night quit pouting and catch the ball. Even with the PI it looked like he could’ve caught the ball.
December 6th, 2022 at 12:19 pm
That was a clutch catch by Julio, and great ball by Brady.
See? The Bucs DO have talent.
December 6th, 2022 at 2:32 pm
Byron sucks
December 6th, 2022 at 3:08 pm
Doesn’t matter what the coaches do or don’t do, doesn’t matter what happens on defense, only thing that matters for the Bucs to have a shot is to get healthy on the OL. Plain and simple. OL gets healthy, WITH ALL-Pro Jensen then Bucs have a legitimate chance. Rams were NOT the best team last year just got healhy at the right time.
December 6th, 2022 at 4:07 pm
I agree that there have been a few routes Mike has quit on, but some of these comments are frickin ridiculous.
Go back and watch his catches from last night. Almost every single catch he got blasted in the back / ribs / etc by a safety and still came down with the ball. LOL at anyone saying he doesn’t want to take contact.
And let’s not forget he is still playing with broken / bruised ribs from that hit he took a few weeks back. That won’t heal until after the season is over.
December 7th, 2022 at 9:24 am
Not a football player anymore at 81 yrs, but I do know instinct come into play as your bruised or broken ribs get hit each time. I have had both while coming off of my horse at a full gallup and ending with broadsidind a oak tree. Maybe saving Mike for playoffs would be best.
December 7th, 2022 at 10:15 am
You ppl are insane, for everyone saying Brady is playing timidly! He is missing his entire offensive line except for Smith who gets a penalty every other down. Jennsen is a huge reason Brady isn’t throwing the long ball and he’s 45 ppl he might have a slight shoulder Injury we will never hear about because he is the very definition of a spartan!!!
December 7th, 2022 at 10:20 am
I love how quick everyone is to blame Brady with the Evans debacle. Evans has dropped a ton of passes this season. He has been confusing routes, he doesn’t turn around and give Brady the option to dump it off when he’s. In trouble and he doesn’t 3ven try to block when he’s not in the play. He’s been playing like trash to be perfectly honest.If he doesn’t make his 1000 yards, he only had himself to blame.
December 7th, 2022 at 1:35 pm
Nah, something is wrong with Evans. Like one of the 1st comments said, he’s not trying to catch 50/50 balls, he’s looking for a flag.. That’s dead on!! Somethings wrong with his ankle if I had to pin point it. Hopefully it gets better soon 🙏
December 7th, 2022 at 6:48 pm
So much negative BS! What is the purpose of all the criticism? I’d like to see if anyone of you could do better?!! JEALOUS!!
GREAT WIN BUCS & BRADY, GREAT WIN!!!!!
December 8th, 2022 at 1:29 pm
Bucs offense this year reminds me of Bucs defense last year, just too many injuries and a snowball effect.
TB12s offensive line probably means more to his effectiveness than a start WR, see his years with Pat’s. Protection is everything. Between injuries, FA and retirement the O line went from great to awful. Pass protection is an issue and they cant run block either. There goes the play action game. Add the retirement of Gronk, Bradys greatest security blanket.
It’s tough to watch when he has 2 seconds to pass a ball.
Think about the injuries KC had in the SB with two hurt and how bad Mahomes looked. The o line is worse in TB.
December 9th, 2022 at 5:40 am
Why does Julio always look like his dog just died?