Tom Brady’s Long Ball
December 27th, 2022
Wildly inconsistent.
Joe knows fans grumble because Joe has faith in Tom Brady. Why folks seem to want Blaine Gabbert — or (gasp!) Kyle Trask — is beyond Joe’s comprehension.
Why does Joe have so much faith in Brady still? Well, massive street cred is one. And when the Bucs run an offense he is comfortable in, the offense hums.
Of course, Brady struggled on Christmas night, until it was do-or-die time. In the last 10 minutes of regulation and into overtime, Brady only missed on 3 of his 21 passes. That’s damn impressive.
Vincent Verhei of Football Outsiders did a deep statistical dive on Brady in the win over the Cardinals. Here’s what he found.
Brady’s average dropback came with 7.9 yards to go for a first down, lowest among full-time quarterbacks. He was the league’s worst passer on deep balls, going 2-of-8 for 39 yards with two interceptions, plus a 30-yard DPI.
But here is what is weird. When Brady runs a play-action or hurry-up, he’s dynamite. So the “struggling” tag is, at best, more like inconsistent. When Brady runs a play-action or a hurry-up, he’s hardly a washed-up quarterback as some folks seem to think.
It’s really weird to Joe that Brady will struggle mightily and all of a sudden — poof! — he’s back to the same ol’ Brady we know and love.
December 27th, 2022 at 1:58 pm
@Joe
You get to OBP. For we on the outside it’s IMPOSSIBLE to imagine what’s going on. First there are our eyeballs! We see the offense humming in the no huddle and struggle to be a power run team. We can’t even guarantee a single yard on 3rd and VERY SHORT.
It’s not just you two Joes and every poster here, it’s EVERYBODY EVERYWHERE!
Rob Gronkowski, every former coach or QB we’ve seen weigh in…I’ve seen NOBODY defend the HARD HEADED philosophy of the Bowles/Leftwich.
They have to be hearing all the dissent! What is going on?
December 27th, 2022 at 2:01 pm
He threw for 5,300 yds just 12 months ago, the lack of long range production isn’t diminishing skills, more likely some sort of shoulder injury so many people have alluded to
December 27th, 2022 at 2:01 pm
Looks like the Bucs hurry up offense made JJ Watt retire 😃
It is a valid argument tho!
December 27th, 2022 at 2:07 pm
He’s rushing throws because he doesn’t trust his line. It’s why Byron calls so many screens and why Tom checks down so quick instead of looking for the deep shot. He misses wide open Evans every week because he’s too scared to wait for route to develop. And even when he does wait, it’s a bad throw because he’s avoiding a hit or anticipating one. Bottom line: Brady is playing scared and I’m not sure you can blame him. Give him time and the offense starts to hum. Low chance of that happening this season unfortunately…
December 27th, 2022 at 2:08 pm
It seem to me that when Brady is in a hurry-up mode his instinctive side of his brain kicks in. He does not have time to overthink the play.
December 27th, 2022 at 2:10 pm
I believe he has an internal clock that is set with a 1.5 second timer.
Get rid of ball or get clobbered.
Doesn’t give a lot of time for plays to develop.
Results? Makes him look inaccurate and bad things can happen.
Not hard to see.
December 27th, 2022 at 2:11 pm
Talk about beating a dead horse, Brady and Evan’s are NOT comfortable in this offense. It’s ironic the Patriots are experiencing the exact same thing with Mac Jones. The coaching staff is NOT playing to it’s players strengths.
December 27th, 2022 at 2:18 pm
Bingo!
December 27th, 2022 at 2:19 pm
Cognitive Dissonance is a real mental health issue.
December 27th, 2022 at 2:22 pm
This is like putting lipstick on a pig. Selling a lemon to someone
December 27th, 2022 at 2:25 pm
Has anybody heard anything more about the injury to Bradys throwing hand? This may be why the ball is either sailing on him or coming up short.
I know the team (and Brady) doesn’t like to disclose injuries as it may give the opposing team something to key on.
December 27th, 2022 at 2:27 pm
He broke a finger in Week 1.
Then got his shoulder messed up in one of the first games.
You guys don’t remember the hit he took while throwing?
When he grabbed his shoulder?
Brady won a Super Bowl on a torn MCL that he hid from everyone.
Tom Brady is the GOAT because he has a LB mentality.
He is a warrior. He’s playing extremely hurt.
Go back and watch the film.
December 27th, 2022 at 2:29 pm
He’s throwing the ball at most 5 yards downfield in the hurry up, and teams are playing off and giving him those throws. That’s how you complete 18 of 21 at the end of the game.
Godwin, Fournette, and White are giving him all his yards in YAC.
Evans isn’t even part of his reads most plays. He’s skipping read 1 and 2 and going straight to the dump off, and usually it’s been pre-determined pre-snap.
Whatever the reasoning you want to use as an excuse, his deep ball accuracy is inconsistent at the very best.
Spin it how you want. That was a horrible Cardinals team circling the drain with a 3rd string QB, and it took us overtime to beat them.
December 27th, 2022 at 2:35 pm
We have seen it time and again all season long. Brady doesnt want to hold onto the ball. I would not want to take those hits either. The line could get better, but ultimately, you are asking for peak efficiency for an aging player that may be seeing ghosts on the field. Its not a character flaw. Its just common sense. He could be back next year and play better with a healthy line, but 17 game seasons is going to make it hard to keep intact. A more mobile QB like Lamar Jackson would improve our line play. The front office needs to be doing everything they can to pry that guy out of Baltimore.
December 27th, 2022 at 2:35 pm
Here’s a thought, a few articles back Joe had written of how Brady wants to run one on one’s but Bowles & BL shot it down for fear of injury. If this has been in his practice routine for 22 years wouldn’t one think that might throw a wrinkle in his timing? You can’t hit a 100 yd gap wedge shot consistently if you don’t practice it.
December 27th, 2022 at 2:36 pm
It’s one thing to be “uncomfortable” with an offense
……but it’s COMPLETELY different thing when a QB is overthrowing or underthrowing his targets……………..and this is what we’ve been seeing all year long from Brady.
We all get the “chemistry” thingy that is always talked about between the QB and receivers but what Brady has done all season has shown us that there is a decline in his QB play.
December 27th, 2022 at 2:48 pm
Does it matter that his passes were short if they result in points?! Some of you guys are ridiculous. He has game winning drives and all some people want to talk about is the process instead of the results. Logan Ryan called Brady the most patient QB to ever play. Brady will hit you with death from a thousand cuts. Some of you are just about social media and highlight throws. Points are points. In the playoff game against the Bills, Mahomes threw a 10 yard pass to Hill and he did the rest. Hey guys, YAC isn’t a bad thing. No one was complaining about Mahomes. Brady was surgical in the no huddle.
I would like to add that Godwin and Evans have mentioned in interviews how they like the hurry up offense. Casuals like to use “dink and dunk” as a slur. If dinking and dunking leads to scores who cares. It’s called taking what the defense gives you. When Aaron Rodgers faced us, he had an average release time under 2 seconds. He was just throwing quick, short passes.
If people look at the macro of the season, you will see that scoring is at its lowest since 2010. Defenses are adjusting. Explosive plays are also down this year. There has been poor OL play. This is season has been filled by bad football.
December 27th, 2022 at 2:51 pm
@TheBucsAnthem, yes, there IS a decline in his play. But the question is WHY is there such a decline?
I would bet big money that it is mostly due to injury. He injured his rotator cuff early on in the season and probably now is playing with multiple injuries.
December 27th, 2022 at 2:55 pm
Thanks Teacherman!
December 27th, 2022 at 3:04 pm
Sad that nobody wants to give Brady his full share of the blame. Too many blaming the Oline or chemistry with receivers which makes zero sense since he’s played with Evans and Godwin enough now where that should not be an issue. If you’re going to play a contact sport scared, then you’re going to have problems and that’s what Brady is doing.
We all know what this team needs to do because they just did it a few games ago and then they reverted back to the loser playbook. Either this team wants to win, and they know how, or they don’t. And from what we’ve all seen all year, they are not all of a sudden going to go back to no risk it no biscuit or use a scheme that works for a whole game before going conservative. At this point, I’m just watching with no expectations.
December 27th, 2022 at 3:08 pm
“Tom Brady’s long ball? I’m in favor of it”.
“As a person gets older he doesn’t get faster. Our quarterback will run from fright or lack of protection.”
“We didn’t tackle well today but we made up for it by not blocking.”
“Can’t stop the pass or the run. Otherwise, we’re in great shape.”
“1 or 2 plane crashes and we’re in the playoffs.”
Coach McKay
December 27th, 2022 at 3:13 pm
NE is spot on. It’s like he’s holding a ticking time bomb instead of a football. Brady has never had a Marino or Elway like arm. Of course his arm isn’t as strong as it once was. I took wonder if his shoulder is bothering him. Whatever happened to Tom House, his longtime throwing coach. Whenever he needed a mechanics check up, House was there. Even with a clean pocket (rarely) he’s double clutching. Could be him trying to generate more velocity with his hips, and overcompensating due to his shoulder. IDK
December 27th, 2022 at 3:18 pm
It’s not his arm, it’s his feet. When he steps in he still gets it there. When he throws flat footed or even a back pedal he throws picks or is off the mark. “Panic”
December 27th, 2022 at 3:29 pm
“gotbbucs Says:
December 27th, 2022 at 2:29 pm
He’s throwing the ball at most 5 yards downfield in the hurry up,”
Last drive he was 6-6 for 69 yards and a TD
December 27th, 2022 at 3:30 pm
2022 long ball completion % 20 yds or more:
Smith 70.7%
Zappe 70.7%
Dak. 69%
Burrows 69%
McCoy. 68.2%
Stafford 68%
Hebert. 68%
Hurts. 67.3%
Jimmy G 67.2%
Huntly. 67%
Purdy. 67%
Mahomes 66.9%
D. Jones 66.5
Murray 66.4
Dalton 66.2
Brady. 66.0%
December 27th, 2022 at 3:37 pm
NM Bucsfan is spot on-just go back and watch the deep ball to Evans that got picked-Brady was unwilling to step into the throw and put it right on target instead shying away from the direct hit that was coming. Brady needs another .3 or .4 tenths of a second , and with this Oline he will not get it. Playoff football is a different matter , Brady may very well stand in there and take the shot if he believes that will be the difference on a long pass in a crucial situation.
December 27th, 2022 at 3:39 pm
I’d like to see the posters who are calling for Gabbert or Trask…..I read most posts and I can’t recall them.
And…..Brady is certainly uncomfortable with his Oline…..it is causing him to throw too quickly not making his reads…..we need to shorten some routes for him….and he needs to throw it beyond the sticks more often. Defenses are keying on these screens and check-downs.
I am fearful that one of his WR screens will end up with a pick 6.
December 27th, 2022 at 3:39 pm
@ NEfan
……..your stats aren’t telling the full story of how Brady truly sucked this year Mr. Raheem Morris:
———-“STATS ARE FOR LOSERS”
December 27th, 2022 at 3:42 pm
Better yet let’s add games played:
Name. Games. %
Smith. 15. 70.7
Dak. 10. 69
Burrows. 15. 69
Hebert. 15. 68
Hurts. 14. 67.3
Mahomes 15. 66.9
Murray. 11. 66.4
D.Jones. 15. 66.5
Dalton. 12. 66.2
Brady. 15. 66
3.7% less than the leader .9 behind Mahomes and guess who has thrown over 100 more passes than the closest Qb? Not that far off Bucs wannabe fans.
December 27th, 2022 at 3:42 pm
I want to see what Trask brings to the game after three seasons of toting Brady’s Surface.
Especially of the Kitties school this lost bunch.
December 27th, 2022 at 3:44 pm
Come on guys?! If you’re saying anything other than protection, you’re not watching or following the team. Brock Purdy, PJ Walker, Mitchell Trubisky, the Cardinals QB… they had time. Rewatch the games. Brady has someone in his face immediately or someone is being held. The running backs are hit in the backfield. This oline is super bad! Period. Injuries derailed the team starting in the preseason. I mean besides an injured Whirfs and the vet Mason, everyone else are 3rd stringers in the position they are playing. You are going to say, Donnie is good. NOPE! WAS THERE ANY DIFFERENCE WITH BOTH GUYS THAT PLAYED IN HIS STEAD? NO!
December 27th, 2022 at 3:45 pm
@ Cobraboy
Trask can’t even beat out Journeyman Gabbert for the #2 QB spot on the Bucs…….so why in the world would you even want to entertain that on the field?????
December 27th, 2022 at 3:47 pm
Some of what Joe says is, of course, true. However, I’ve seen too many games, too many situations, where Brady has a clean pocket, plenty of time to throw, and the ball simply doesn’t get there! You can even see it in Brady’s own self-disgust expressions. He just cannot believe that he would throw like that.
Life is a complicated place. Unfortunately, the is no Illuminati, no “New World Order”, no simple explanation to explain either the complexity of the world we live in or even something as trivial as the Bucs offensive woes. It’s a multi-faceted problem, with some of the issues inter-related and some independent.
December 27th, 2022 at 3:49 pm
TheBucAnthem, stats are for loser spoken like the true loser himself Bowels. Coaches that don’t use stats in game planning are at a huge disadvantage. Stats are the only way to compare players in any sport. You probably have a dial up phone and keep you calendar on a Palm Pilot.
BucfanQBhater@ Brady took the hit on that throw, watch it again.
December 27th, 2022 at 3:52 pm
Jason must do this offseason what is does best. Get Olineman. I’m hoping for at least 4 new capable bodies. The season is over. We will not, I repeat, will not beat Carolina unless the defense holds them to 9 points. If they score, Carolina, 14 points or more. We lose! This current oline is a liability. Injured Whirfs, injured Jensen, injured and inconsistent Donny, 3rd string center, 3rd string LG will be the best we can put on the feild. Think about that. And a immobile QB. What other team has this problem?
December 27th, 2022 at 3:56 pm
Lol. If we had, Tyreek hill, Jerry rice, and Calvin Johnson with Brady as QB and Bo Jackson, and Tom rachman with is offensive line, we would still on score 10 to 17 points a game. With Vince Lombardi as OC. The oline line is that bad.
December 27th, 2022 at 3:57 pm
Rathman
December 27th, 2022 at 4:00 pm
“And when the Bucs run an offense he is comfortable in, the offense hums.”
I hear a lot about how Brady needs to have just the right pieces in place, or the perfect team on the cusp of a superb owl. Look, I agree that he is superior to most others at his position who are currently playing, and is superior to both of our backups. That being said, if he has to have so many things just perfect in order for him to succeed, eventually you have to question how good he genuinely continues to be on his own. For example, Mahomes is adaptable when the plan falters. Got to be honest, not always seeing that in Brady. Anyhow, right now he is the only reason this season wasn’t flushed down the toilet in week 1. Whatever becomes of this season, let’s stay objective about what he brings when headed toward the future. Go Bucs!
December 27th, 2022 at 4:04 pm
I have NEVER read, seen, heard of anyone wanting Gabbert now or EVER, especially over Brady. I would like to see Trask come in at clean up get some snaps but there has been really none of that this year…and think Gabbert should be developed more under Brady.
That said, I see so much about Brady…Florio is writing he may team up with Payton in NOLA next year…as they almost did with MIA this year. Huh? I still don’t believe that stupid rumor at all. Meanwhile, the Panthers presale for their possible home playoff game started today. Hope the Bucs put that one to bed rickity tick.
Going into the playoffs if they make it happen…there is still not another QB I’d have than Brady.
December 27th, 2022 at 4:05 pm
^^^^ Trask should have been more developed…NOT Gabbert. ^^^^
December 27th, 2022 at 4:08 pm
Not surprised about Brady…like any other aging athlete. Consider Toby Keith’s song:
“I’m not as good as I once was, but I’m as a good once, as I ever was.”
December 27th, 2022 at 4:20 pm
Long ball? The exception of having Moss in 07 Brady was never a deep ball passer. Yeah I get it he threw for over 5K yards in 17 games with a 3rd place schedule. That’s not his game and IMO since he got here they figured out he before the bye week in 2020 he couldn’t run the no biscuit no risk it offensive scheme. You never saw check downs and use of the TE in that scheme. Hey but it worked. You see how teams so far this season have figured out that the takeaway the middle of the field. All season you have seen that when throwing to Godwin, Evans, and Gage. I’m honesty shocked that teams have not used the Pittsburgh Steelers defensive scheme from 2011 on Brady. Man and press coverage at the LOS all the WRs and take away the middle of the field but Leave the deep and outside the numbers open the entire game.
December 27th, 2022 at 4:31 pm
@jstokes. Brady owns the Steelers. What are you talking about? Brady never got a true X receiver until Moss arrived. Deion Branch was underrated, and Gage reminds me of him. Quick release and can create separation quickly. He’s getting better separation than Godwin and Evans. I say keep feeding Gage! This offense flawed. It’s built on my man beating your man. The Air Coryell is absolute in today’s NFL. Most teams are playing some alteration of the West Coast Offense. We rarely scheme people open. I like the swing passes we’ve integrated in our offense. I would prefer someone with more explosiveness on the pass. We need more YAC. Godwin was great after the catch, but he’s slowed down bit.
December 27th, 2022 at 4:47 pm
NEfan … Brady is 66.0% on the season (443 completions in 671 attempts). That’s not his deep ball completion percentage though.
In 2020 Brady threw deep 119 times and completed 45 (37.8%).
In 2021 Brady threw deep 88 times and completed 37 (42.0%).
Thus far in 2022 (through 15 games), Brady has thrown deep 75 times and completed just 26 of them (34.7%). So yes, he is throwing deep less AND connecting on a lower percentage of them too. But for anyone to say it’s all Brady’s fault is disingenuous. Oline is struggling, receivers have had their own issues, defenses have adjusted, etc, etc. Still though, age does catch up to all of us sooner or later.
December 27th, 2022 at 4:51 pm
The average time a quarterback get to throw in the nfl is around 2.5 – 4 seconds. If Brady waited 3 seconds to throw he would lead the league in getting sacked. A rookie would have no chance at all. By now everyone but Bowles and Leftwich knows what works for the Bucs offense.
December 27th, 2022 at 4:54 pm
The average time a quarterback get to throw in the nfl is around 2.5 – 4 seconds. If Brady waited 3 seconds to throw he would lead the league in getting sacked. A rookie would have no chance at all. I haven’t heard any former player or coach defend the Bucs play calling.
December 27th, 2022 at 4:54 pm
The average time a quarterback get to throw in the nfl is around 2.5 – 4 seconds. If Brady waited 3 seconds to throw he would lead the league in getting sacked. A rookie would have no chance at all.
December 27th, 2022 at 4:55 pm
It’s not weird at all, Joe. If we pay attention to the fine print, we get it why.
“Brady’s average dropback came with 7.9 yards to go for a first down, lowest among full-time quarterbacks”
Unfortunately we have a historically bad offense. Worst run game in decades, one of the worst Offensive Lines in the league, awful playcalling and offensive gameplanning that refuses to adjust to those weaknesses and to play to our strenghts.
If we can’t run effectively, we get predictable, more guys drop into coverage, and our OL is so bad that 4 man rushes usually get home pretty fast, so there’s barely any time for routes to develop and for the QB to read progressions. It’s that bad, and blaming Brady is beyond stupidity. I really hope we can provide a good offense for him again.
December 27th, 2022 at 4:56 pm
The people on this site are losers! Know nothing about winning, but sure know how to quit!!! There is nothing new about Brady’s play! He has one weakness and it has been with him since he came in the league. His weakness is being magnified because this team has a bigger problem than Brady! It is a head coach who insists on power running when he doesnt have the line to do it! Arians built this team to throw the ball down field, but Bowles wants to use the same personnel and a third string line to make it s power run team. All the problems on offense start with that fact! As for Brady, why dont sone of you world class football experts do some research on Brady’s weakness going back 23 years. Every team in the league knows it! And it has to do with the O line!
December 27th, 2022 at 4:59 pm
It’s been reported that Brady has a knee injury. Does Joe have info on this report? If it’s badly injured, that could be catastrophic. Thank you, Brandon Walton. A bad knee, shoulder, and finger are a disaster for the team. Brady has already lost some of movement in his legs. I don’t see him navigating the pocket as often. He was late to his press conference after the game and he seemed agitated.
December 27th, 2022 at 5:00 pm
I really can’t understand some of the comments here. Guys, watch our film. Watch how many times Brady threw deep and had a pass rusher in his face. Just watch it. Obviously it’s gonna go bad. It has absolutely nothing to do with age. Also, he’s had his fair share of bad short and medium throws in the same predicament. Rush gets to his face, he is hurried and performs a poor pass. It’s not rocket science, it’s just football.
December 27th, 2022 at 5:12 pm
Old School Bucs, that comment of your remembers me of three things off the top of my head:
1) Spagnulo’s fire-zone blitz in the Helmet Catch SB. It held Brady at bay until he crafted a would-be game-winning drive TD to Moss with little over 1 minute left. Spagnuolo blasted the interior OL with fire-zone blitzes and kept rotating young rookies against the weak link (Hochstein) until Brady was pressured multiple times from the A gap and was rattled enough to only throw short to Welker.
2) Graham’s game-winning forced fumble on Brady coming in an A gap rush against Shaq Mason, who gave up the strip sack in SB LII.
3) Goedeke and Hainsey giving up multiple inside pressures at the beginning of our season.
It’s beyond apalling that we gave Brady this current interior OL this year after losing Marpet, Cappa and Jensen. Beyond imagination.
December 27th, 2022 at 5:38 pm
No matter your offensive philosophy, it only works if the OLINE in the trenches does their jobs.
If you want to run a Power based offense, then you must have an OLINE to execute those plays successfully.
If you want to run a No Risk It based offense, then you must have an OLINE that can allow you to execute those plays successfully.
Cappa and Marpet left before the draft.
Jason Licht should’ve been laser focused on improving the OLINE.
TB12 showed you last year that he doesn’t need a ton of weapons at WR to succeed as the Bucs WR core was decimated with injuries as well as players losing their minds and quitting.
TB12 had 3 Pro Bowl OLINE players and lit the league on fire, and if not for a horrible play call by Todd Bowles he probably would have taken us to the Super Bowl.
TB12 needed OLINE.
Jason Licht failed to address that in the draft and free agency.
TB12 could have AB and Gronk on this team and TB12 would still struggle as he’s getting pressured from every where on the OLINE because the Bucs OLINE has been decimated with injuries.
Pressure from the front 4 and dropping 7 in coverage is a weakness for any QB and TB12 is no different.
That’s the Bucs and TB12’s major problem this year.
Throw in a coordinator who doesn’t know how to coordinate with an horrible OLINE and you get our offense.
December 27th, 2022 at 5:45 pm
C’mon, DR, Brady is a fossil and your stats prove it. He is wrecking his legacy tho he still will be first-ballot voted HOF. He is too old to play, and vibes are leaking out of the locker room. I have never cared for BL one way or the other, but I like Bowles. He deserves to be HC without all the Brady crap.
December 27th, 2022 at 6:03 pm
This disaster masquerading as an NFL offense is a collective effort in sucking. Everybody got a hand in it. This team sucks. How many more games do u need to see before you concede?
Panthers defense is going to punish this offense Sunday.
December 27th, 2022 at 6:03 pm
The real problem is that the lack of attempts makes each throw look like a precious thing.
Brady’s long balls are more of a decoy to keep the defense honest. It keep the safeties a little further back so the 8-10 yard throws work better.
I don’t know if the lack of long balls is Brady or the scheme. I expect it to be some of both. Leftie keeps trying to push round pegs into square holes and not scheme to the strength of his players. Brady needs to grab a little more of the action.
December 27th, 2022 at 6:15 pm
The play-calling is predictable. First down – run the ball. Other teams know this. When Brady goes no-huddle the other team does not have time to substitute their pass defense.
December 27th, 2022 at 6:16 pm
chicks dig the long ball
December 27th, 2022 at 6:44 pm
Look at the pictures on the Bucs website of the players hanging out with kids in the Glazer Shed before Christmas…
TB12’s finger is heavily taped. Not for the first time either. I think this goes to his accuracy on some of his throws. He is 45 yrs old,apparently with a busted finger.
The long ball problems might be a shoulder thing but mostly the time it takes. One of the Ints against the Bengals and one against the Cards were a result of being hit while he throws.
They have no answer for why ME13 looks so lost or disinterested. He’s never looked this way in his career here.
December 27th, 2022 at 7:02 pm
Brady’s long in the tooth ball.
December 27th, 2022 at 7:08 pm
DR, I think you are incorrect. If that’s the case his completion % is less than 1% lower than Mahomes? And he’s thrown over 100 more passes? That seems pretty good to me. Looks like he completes a LOT of his passes almost 7 out of 10.
December 27th, 2022 at 7:17 pm
DR, my look up was 2022 nfl qb passing accuracy for 20 yds or more
December 27th, 2022 at 7:27 pm
Orlbucfan … All I’m saying is that it all doesn’t rest on Brady’s shoulders. The OLine is partly to blame, BL’s play-calling is partly to blame, the receivers not executing as well as in years past shre some of the blame. Defenses have adjusted (whodathunkit?) to what the Bucs & Brady were doing. And yes, Brady is partly to blame.
And for the record, I’m not at all enamored with BL either, but I do like Bowles … as a DC. He’s wearing the HC hat but not really fulfilling the role of the HC. It’s like we’re caught in a time warp where BA is still the coach, but not really. We seem to be trapped in a no-man’s land. This team has no identity right now, and that’s a major problem. Our OLine has slipped, Brady had slipped, our receivers have slipped and oh ya, no one has adjusted … except the opposition.
December 27th, 2022 at 7:31 pm
NEfan … Dig a little deeper. Pewter Report has a really good in-depth article titled ‘Brady and the Deep Ball; What Gives?’ (not allowed to include links) that’ll explain it all.
December 27th, 2022 at 7:34 pm
Have said it before will say it again. Bowles and BL have more knowledge and experience than all on this site. What makes us think they’ve suddenly become dumb. Bowles KNEW we needed a run game. TB12 is a statue and has no experienced center or LG. TB12 is w/o Gronk and AB so the offensive advantage is gone with only ME13 and a recovering Godwin.
Julio and Gage have been hurt and Scotty is too small to fight for balls to get the DPI. That is TB12s achilles heal; no quickly open weapons and inside pressure destroying a pocket. IF we go hurry up all game, the defense is gassed and we lose by 25pts. Staying close until the end has worked to some extent.
The Bucs run game wasn’t stellar in 2020-21 so it’s no surprise it sucks now. But we can’t throw successfully 50 times a game because TB12 will be a turnover king due to lack of protection and lack of mobility. There isn’t much to be done, CANNOT bench the GOAT so we suffer thru what we have and fight as much as we can. This Sunday can be worse w/o our LTs. Walton digressed from Week 2-4. JJ Watt was a beast as well. Panthers Dline will be salivating. At least running keeps the clock running. 3 bad things can happen when we’re pass happy. Incompletion, sack or INT (TB12 INTs have increased lately due to pressing IMO). running burns clock at least…Let’s hope we have a lot of fight until playoffs when we hopefully get Smith, Wirfs and Jensen back. THAT will be answered prayer and hopefully get TB12 the time to ignite the O.
December 27th, 2022 at 8:06 pm
DR. The only guy at Pewter who had a clue left. Just a bunch of amateur high school level knowledge takes on there now.
December 27th, 2022 at 8:20 pm
O-Line? More like the No-Line!
December 27th, 2022 at 8:40 pm
tom is connecting on the “long ball” in the bedroom now that he’s a single man in the bay area…
🙂
#BallingInBedButNotOnTheField
December 27th, 2022 at 8:46 pm
but seriously…in layman’s terms…
i mentioned it yesterday i think…
when tom is more relaxed and gets to “bounce in the pocket”, he delivers mostly perfect balls all over the field, short to long routes…
he has not time, the line gives him no time to get on his game…
he no longer drops back, scans, bounces, scans, and delivers a dime…
he doesn’t have the time, and they rarely build a beautiful pocket around him…
and he’s probably a little more banged up that he lets on
December 27th, 2022 at 9:23 pm
Comment like this…”Trask can’t even beat out Journeyman Gabbert for the #2 QB spot on the Bucs…….so why in the world would you even want to entertain that on the field?????”… are in direct conflict with your hatred of BL n Todd (rightfully so). It is hypocritical to say you do not trust the coaches on any level and then turn around and say the above statement as if this coaching staff are the stalwarts of good judgement. Pick your poison do you or don’t you trust the coaches? And stop talking out of both sides of your mouths to justify your ever sliding herd takes.
December 27th, 2022 at 9:35 pm
@Bucs4Life, 👍 yes sir you are on it!!!!! It is the interior rush!!!!!! Belicheck solved that most of his career, and Brady became the goat!
December 27th, 2022 at 9:45 pm
That would be Dante Scarneccia that solved that along with Brady.
December 27th, 2022 at 9:58 pm
Every quarterbac that has ever played has trouble with pressure up the middle what separates Brady from
everyone else is his manipulation of the pocket with his feet , deciphering the defense in less than a few seconds , in the quickest release of all time. If Belichick was such a guru. It’s stunning that it hasn’t worked with any other quarterback he has had. Since he’s coached close to 150 games without Brady and has exactly one playoff win in his well below .500
December 27th, 2022 at 10:01 pm
Bucs Playoffs begins this week. One win and we are in.
December 27th, 2022 at 10:17 pm
@Jimmy, true dat. I didn’t say Brady’s weakness was any different from any other QB. I said that is his weakness. When you get Brady off his mark he can throw some errant passes. That is the only way to stop Brady. Belichek is the greatest coach of all time. His problem now starts with weak QB play. Brady and Belichek put together the greatest one two punch in history. They fed off each other. Brady and Belichek actually sat down together before games and game planned together. Belichek does listened to his QB and vice versa. That is one reason they did so well. Belichek is in search of a QB that can play to his expectations. Hard to find!
December 27th, 2022 at 10:56 pm
Brady has AT LEAST one serious injury affecting his throwing. Everyone has seen him this year. He was 5200 yards and 42 TD in 2021. He’s looked garbage no matter how many people wanna put it all on coaching. It’s hard trust a player and not just a name to make the play.
December 27th, 2022 at 11:13 pm
I wanna know why they don’t run shotgun more often. That would give some space for Brady before the pass rush gets there. He would be able to step into his throws too. It’s apparent to me Brady injured his rotator cuff in week three. I’m betting it hasn’t healed and probably has gotten worse over the season. Yes this Oline isn’t great. Especially at run blocking. Which really sucks because the game plan for the season was to help Brady by running the ball. So he doesn’t have to pass 50+ times every game.
December 28th, 2022 at 12:11 am
Redeemer, NE, DR, Belle… and several more folks out there. Thank you for your posts relating common sense, game assessment, and quality observations.
Brady is hitting his career average of 66% overall. yes they are throwing less long and completing less. He has looked off on some throws and If you watch the film you will see him still favor the right hand, as well as having it wrapped in other photos (as mentioned). Brady is for all intents and purposes statistically equivalent to Justin Herbert this year. Do your research. Is anyone out there bashing Justin Herbert? No because he’s a badar$e. He has thrown for almost 100 more times than Mahomes who is at 66.9% completion. Mahomes is having the exact same statistical year Brady had last year. No one thinks Mahomes cant throw? Mohomes LOOKS better this year because Andy Reid is a real coach and puts his team in the best position to win ON OFFENSE>
Regardless, the only thing different about Brady this year is a bum right hand/finger and that this is the worst coached team he has ever been on. It is also the worst Offensive line he has ever had, by a lot. He needs a quality (not the best but high quality) OLine to thrive. Couple that with a coach who plays to not lose while also refusing to play to the teams strengths, and an OC who is predictable… This is what you get.
December 28th, 2022 at 12:23 am
We can continue to debate why our offense sucks but its obvious to me. Our route trees and run blocking schemes are elementary. We are predictable and do not challenge defenses by creating mismatches with our players strengths. If you look at the first half against Cincy, thats what our offense is capable of. Honestly, I would not be surprised if Arians helped create those plays for Lefty after the embarrassing loss in San Francisco. Plenty of blame to go around but the heart of the issue lies in the offenses inability to produce. Its Lefty over his head!! Whats crazy is the front office is allowing this to play out, its criminal. I’m sure we will here more after the season ends, which will be sooner than later.
December 28th, 2022 at 11:14 am
Oral liking Bowles as a HC is insane. He can hang in as DC but don’t fool yourself that AZ O was worse than the Bucs. If he were a good HC he would have saw the problem with his O and implemented a system that fits his players. Instead he continues to sit back and watch his team struggle to score 17 points. It is 100% clear to me now you have NO idea how this game is played. Stick to what you know best Pokémon.
December 28th, 2022 at 11:46 am
gotbbucs Says:
December 27th, 2022 at 2:29 pm
He’s throwing the ball at most 5 yards downfield in the hurry up, and teams are playing off and giving him those throws. That’s how you complete 18 of 21 at the end of the game.
Godwin, Fournette, and White are giving him all his yards in YAC.
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That’s just factually incorrect and totally untrue. Many of those passes were well past 5 yards. The trolls on this site have some extremely old and stale material. You guys really need to get a new trolling schtick, because it’s outdated and lame as hell.
December 28th, 2022 at 11:59 am
Izod Says:
December 27th, 2022 at 3:47 pm
Some of what Joe says is, of course, true. However, I’ve seen too many games, too many situations, where Brady has a clean pocket, plenty of time to throw, and the ball simply doesn’t get there! You can even see it in Brady’s own self-disgust expressions. He just cannot believe that he would throw like that.
Life is a complicated place. Unfortunately, the is no Illuminati, no “New World Order”, no simple explanation to explain either the complexity of the world we live in or even something as trivial as the Bucs offensive woes. It’s a multi-faceted problem, with some of the issues inter-related and some independent.
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Every single quarterback in the NFL misses about 4-5 throws in every single game they play. I’ve watched all of the games this season of Mahomes and Allen, and they miss about 4-5 easy throws in every single game. And they have way, way, way better o-lines than the Bucs have. Actually, they both have probably missed throws than Brady has, and both have definitely, without any doubt whatsoever, missed more easy throws than Brady has.
They are both also quite a bit more turnover prone than Brady is. And if we are talking about tightly contested throws, into small windows, and with little time to get the throw off because the o-line didn’t hold up – then both Mahomes and Allen are far, far worse in those situations than Brady is. They might complete 1-2 of those a game, maybe 3 once in awhile. Brady is completely many such passes in every single game.
It’s strange though, that the fan bases of the Chiefs and Bills are not riddled with people demanding that they be benched for some random bad backup……no, that only seems to be a thing with the Bucs fan base.
Every single quarterback in the league misses 4-5 throws in every game they play in. But for some odd reason, Brady is the only quarterback that gets called out for it. It’s honestly never even mentioned with any of the other quarterbacks. I’ve watched several of Burrows’ game as well, and he missed like 8-10 throws in one of them……….I didn’t see one word anywhere from Bengals fans complaining about him.
December 28th, 2022 at 12:02 pm
DungyDance Says:
December 27th, 2022 at 4:00 pm
“And when the Bucs run an offense he is comfortable in, the offense hums.”
I hear a lot about how Brady needs to have just the right pieces in place, or the perfect team on the cusp of a superb owl. Look, I agree that he is superior to most others at his position who are currently playing, and is superior to both of our backups. That being said, if he has to have so many things just perfect in order for him to succeed, eventually you have to question how good he genuinely continues to be on his own. For example, Mahomes is adaptable when the plan falters. Got to be honest, not always seeing that in Brady. Anyhow, right now he is the only reason this season wasn’t flushed down the toilet in week 1. Whatever becomes of this season, let’s stay objective about what he brings when headed toward the future. Go Bucs!
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Mahomes managed to score an incredible total of 9 points in the Super Bowl, when his o-line was banged up. The only time in his career that he really had to play with a bad o-line, and he just absolutely set the scoreboard on fire, with an amazing 9 points.
December 28th, 2022 at 12:19 pm
jstokes84@yahoo.com Says:
December 27th, 2022 at 4:20 pm
I’m honesty shocked that teams have not used the Pittsburgh Steelers defensive scheme from 2011 on Brady. Man and press coverage at the LOS all the WRs and take away the middle of the field but Leave the deep and outside the numbers open the entire game.
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Brady has owned the Steelers defense more than he had owned any other team in his career. He has destroyed the Steelers defense pretty much always. Up until the Todd Bowles’ Jets prevent offense that is.
December 28th, 2022 at 1:29 pm
BOAT@ I hope your are a woman because if you are I think I just met my soul mate!
December 28th, 2022 at 2:31 pm
BOAT knows their sh!rt. Every word true.
Bucs fans deserve Bowles. They are always wanting to rebuild because it is what they are used to.
Support who is carrying this God-Forsaken team instead of piling on. If you studied film of the QBs around the league… you will see exactly what BOAT says. But no one is calling for any of those QBs to sit, retire, etc. Brady is held at a standard NO ONE ELSE HAS EVER BEEN. And AT 45, he is still managing to drag these sorry coaches to the possibility of a playoff game despite them doing everything in their power to sink the season.