Man Coverage Against Tom Brady Means Touchdown
October 17th, 2021
Slices apart man coverages.
Pretty cool stuff here about Bucs quarterback Tom Brady and how defenses cover him.
Larry Holder of The Athletic did a deep dive with NextGen stats and quarterback stats. Joe won’t bore you with a lot of the gobbledegook. However, one element was very interesting.
In man coverage, Tom Brady’s chances for throwing a touchdown skyrocket. Brady’s completion percentage against man defense isn’t that great at 58 percent, but when he does complete passes against man he hurts defenses badly.
Brady has a crazy touchdown-to-interception ratio of 11-0 facing man defense. Best in the league. Dak Prescott is close at 9-0.
When facing man coverage, Brady has 656 yards. The next closest is Joe Burrow of Cincinnati with 476.
Joe isn’t sure of the whys and hows of Brady being so very good against man coverage. Perhaps it has to do with superior receivers? Notice Prescott also has an excellent touchdown-to-interception ratio against man coverage.
So it seems only a fool of a defensive coordinator would call for man coverage on Brady.
October 17th, 2021 at 8:18 am
The reciever’s ability to create seperation is most certainly a factor.
October 17th, 2021 at 8:24 am
You may not be sure, but I think your idea is certain given Dallas’ WR talent. Their scenario is similar to ours. Man on AB? Good luck! Man on ME13? Hope the guy is both over 6’ and athletic enough to keep up. Man on Godwin? Prepare to get beasted. Man on Gronk? Please!
Plus with all these crossing routes and “non-pick” pick-plays these days, man coverage puts most teams at a further disadvantage when the DB talent doesn’t match the WRs. It’s easy to dissect for Brady and lock in on the weakest link.
Another factor is that in the red zone, there’s less field area to cover, so a zone fills the gaps better. Man coverage inside the 20 remains susceptible to all listed above.
October 17th, 2021 at 9:24 am
Joe isn’t sure of the whys and hows of Brady being so very good against man coverage. Perhaps it has to do with superior receivers?
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I’d have to say it’s got more to do with all that high quality blocking he’s getting from our All-World LT.
Durable Donnie just doesn’t get the credit he deserves.
October 17th, 2021 at 9:48 am
It’s not just the quality of good receivers, it’s the number. 3 No. 1 WR, 2 clutch TE (Gronk and Brate), and 2 excellent RB checkdowns (Bernard and Fournette). You simply can’t cover all of them.
October 17th, 2021 at 12:06 pm
You are right, Joe. Tom was better on the zone coverage during his stint with the Patriots. His accuracy puts the ball that only the receivers can get the ball but it needs good receivers too.
October 17th, 2021 at 2:18 pm
Brady knows how to throw WRs open. Couple that with a top notch receiving corps, and there you have it.
October 18th, 2021 at 3:35 pm
Brady’s receivers carry him. He has an embarrassment of riches for weapons. Teams will continue to play a lot of man coverage because the greatest check-down-thrower of all time poses no threat as a scrambler.
October 19th, 2021 at 1:54 am
DoooshLaRue – Very well said !!