There’s something you should know about Tom Brady—he’s 43. And while the six-time Lombardi Trophy recipient has performed admirably for a player that age, you won’t see many plays from 2020 on Brady’s career highlight reel. Brady’s stat line isn’t all bad—at present, he ranks among the NFL’s top 10 in both touchdowns (28) and passing yards (3,300). But this year we’ve seen unmistakable cracks in the armor, many of them suggesting Brady—a man who previously made it his life’s work to thwart Father Time at every turn—is not the invincible, age-defying sorcerer we thought he was.
If director Judd Apatow ever makes a sequel to This is 40, it would be This is 43, starring Tom Brady, and it wouldn’t be a comedy. There’s nothing remotely funny about Brady’s precipitous decline, a subject Joey Knight explored in an article for the Tampa Bay Times. In his research, Knight uncovered a number of juicy nuggets, noting Brady has posted nearly as many multi-interception games in his last four outings (three) as he had in his previous four seasons combined (four). And if that didn’t paint a dreary enough picture of the future Hall-of-Famer’s post-New England struggles, consider Brady has registered a league-high 95 “bad throws”—a statistic tracked by Pro Football Reference—this season. That’s not an encouraging number, nor is Brady’s 64.8 completion percentage, good for 24th among qualified signal-callers.
After two decades of mastering the intricacies of Josh McDaniels’ New England offense, have Bruce Arians’ tendencies cramped Brady’s style? Knight’s statistical findings would seem to lend credence to that theory. Despite his diminished arm strength, the Bucs have, inexplicably, insisted Brady challenge teams vertically, averaging the third-highest intended air yards per target (8.8) of any quarterback this season. Considering the 21-year vet might be the most accomplished short to intermediate passer of all-time (or at worst, second to Saints marksman Drew Brees), devising a scheme predicated on attacking defenses downfield would seem to be an odd use of Brady’s skill set.
Equally confusing is Brady’s suspiciously low sack total (16) compared to the amount of hits he’s taken while throwing (44, seven more than all of last season). That disparity would suggest the aging quarterback has either become slower to make decisions or his receivers aren’t gaining adequate separation, forcing Brady to wait in the pocket while the likes of Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown, Mike Evans and longtime collaborator Rob Gronkowski get open.
The slumping Buccaneers have dropped three of their last four games and Brady’s uneven performance over that stretch has no doubt played a role in Tampa Bay’s recent struggles. Brady is, for better or worse, a league-average starter at this late stage in his career. If that’s all the Bucs had hoped for out of Brady, then mission accomplished. But if Tampa was hoping for a vintage version of the GOAT, that ship sailed long ago.
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