A few weeks ago, Tom Brady dismissively remarked there’s a lot of bad football being played around the NFL. Now he’s lost to Mitch Trubisky and P.J. Walker in consecutive weeks.
It’s another example of Brady getting served his comeuppance after an invincible 20 years both on and off the field.
Following a disastrous 21-3 loss Sunday to the lowly Panthers, Brady is at his nadir. His marital issues are being splashed all over Page Six (the latest report says he and Gisele are gearing up for a "nasty split") and the 3-4 Buccaneers are in a tailspin. Brady once boasted that opponents would have to give up their lives to beat him on the gridiron, because he’s giving up his.
That mantra doesn’t seem so cool now that Gisele is leaving, and Brady is firing incompletions into the ground. More than ever, it seems like Brady gave up his life for football.
What a horrible decision! I mean, he's getting trolled by Antonio Brown.
Tampa Bay’s woes aren’t all Brady’s fault, as evidenced by Mike Evans dropping what would have been a wide-open 75-yard touchdown pass on the Bucs’ third play from scrimmage. The star wideout said his blunder took the life out of his team, and maybe he’s right.
The Bucs’ offensive line is weak, too. Trusted center Ryan Jensen was lost for the season during training camp, and left tackle Donovan Smith is overcoming an injury. Brady is often under duress.
But Brady has always overcome his teammate’s mistakes and personnel problems. Just last season, he nearly led the Bucs back from a 24-point deficit against the Rams in the Divisional Round.
He’s taken teams that featured Reche Caldwell and Austin Collie at receiver to the AFC Championship.
On Sunday, Brady was throwing to Chris Godwin and Evans. Aforementioned drop aside, Brady has dealt with worse.
At 45 years old, it’s apparent he’s finally lost a step.
Brady once again looked pedestrian against a mediocre defense, completing 32-of-49 passes for 290 yards. The Buccaneers didn’t score a touchdown.
Entering Sunday, the Panthers lost 12 of their previous 13 games, and just fired their coach, Matt Rhule. They’ve already traded Christian McCaffrey and seem poised to shed nearly every talented vet on their roster.
Oh, and Walker was playing in the XFL two years ago. On Sunday, the backup outperformed the GOAT.
Brady’s failings were most exemplified early in the fourth quarter, with the Bucs inside Carolina’s 10-yard line. Brady got pressured on third down and threw the ball right into the turf — not giving Godwin a chance. Tampa Bay wound up settling for a field goal.
There’s little doubt Brady is doing all he can to prepare himself to play every week. But is he investing the same amount of time in his teammates? His extended summer absence, weekly maintenance days and decision to skip a walkthrough so he could sleep in after Robert Kraft’s wedding would indicate not.
Brady has always said he will retire when he stinks. Well, he doesn’t stink, but this is still pretty bad.
