The relationship roller coaster between Bruce Arians and Tom Brady continues.
The latest? The Tampa Bay Buccaneers' head coach singing the praises of a quarterback he has levied sporadic criticism toward throughout the 2020 season.
“I don’t know why anyone’s criticizing Tom,” Arians told reporters on Wednesday (according to Pro Football Talk). “What he did at the end of the half and to start the second half [against] Minnesota — very, very few teams can score 17 points in a matter of five or six minutes. If we finished the half with 17 points, I don’t [care] how we start. He’s not getting enough credit for what he’s doing.”
Brady has the 10th-most passing yards in the NFL while tossing the fifth-most touchdown passes (30). He does, however, own the fourth-most interceptions (11). His 96.3 passer rating would be his second-lowest since 2013.
In Arians' mind, it has been all good enough to constitute Pro Bowl status.
“Offensively, I think Tom [Brady] has had a Pro Bowl year," the coach said.
Tampa Bay heads into this weekend at 8-5, sitting two games in back of first-place New Orleans, which beat the Bucs in both the teams' meetings.