Red Pen Night For Tom Brady?

October 27th, 2022

It’s obvious the Bucs didn’t realize that losing to the miserable Steelers and their rookie quarterback was rock bottom for a team with Super Bowl aspirations. So Tampa Bay went out Sunday and got clobbered by a team trying to lose.

That reality is at the core of Joe’s disbelief.

You lose a shocker to Pittsburgh and then roll over for a miserable division opponent that already canned its head coach, traded its best player and is starting its fourth-string quarterback?

That’s a new and special level of rock bottom, and it should have set off an earthquake Sunday night at One Buc Palace.

That has Joe wondering whether the Carolina loss was enough to get Tom Brady to wake up and start throwing his weight around when it comes to the Bucs’ playcalling.

Whatever you think of offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, he has no doubt lost his feel for the offense — as in what works and what doesn’t. Or you think Leftwich is beyond repair, a second-rate playcaller struggling without the guiding presence that was Bucco Bruce Arians.

Regardless, Joe is confident Brady has strong ideas on how to fix the Bucs offense and they will be on full display tonight against the Baltimore Ravens.

Why wouldn’t Brady assert himself this week? Who at One Buc Palace would have the nerve to stand in Brady’s way? Who would be dumb enough to stand in his way?

Joe doesn’t believe for a second that Brady looking to Leftwich for many answers in preparing for this game.

Hardcore Bucs fans know the story/myth/folktale of Arians’ red pen. Joe thinks Brady brought a 3-pack of red Sharpies to One Buc Palace on Monday morning.

Tonight fans will be watching Brady’s vision of what will get the most out of the offense, Joe believes, and Joe is damn eager to see it.


Todd Bowles Confidence Poll (Week 8)

Flash Poll posted at 6:05 a.m. Results of last week’s Todd Bowles confidence poll are linked here.

32 Responses to “Red Pen Night For Tom Brady?”

  1. beano Says:

    Joe is delusional.

  2. Waterboy Says:

    Where’s the blame for Brady in play calling, audibling and how involved is he in scripting the first 15 plays each week? I hear Leftwich getting all the blame for the failures and Brady gets the accolades when things are going well. Something tells me Brady carries more weight in play selection and weekly game planning than people are acknowledging. Difference between this year and last year is he couldn’t over rule BA.

  3. FortMyersDave Says:

    Interesting take Joes! One thing that I try to look at is the trends in the Vegas lines. The wise guys usually have a good pulse on what is going on and rarely get burned, they have a line that has the Bucs favored by 1.5, this is a move of 3 points from 48 hours ago when the Ravens were favored by 1.5 and the money line has shifted correspondingly, what caused this shift? The only thing that makes sense is that either the world outside of Tampa still thinks the Bucs are a decent club (and are not piling on the Ravens as logic dictates) OR someone in Vegas has intel that us common fans have no access to so Joe might be onto something in that the one thing that might actually help the Bucs is if Leftwich has been grounded, neutered or muzzled and the offense is taking new direction.

    Anyhow, the above is just wishful thinking but it would be nice if it happens. Lines are a bit funny; Bucs favored, the Pats favored at the Jets despite a NE QB controversy (though the Jets did lose their star RB), Niners favored at Rams, etc…. Truth is if the offense does wake up and put up 21,24, 27, 30 etc; it is a fair bet that Coach Bowel’s D might go “M. Smith 2018” and still get boat raced. The last 2 losses indicate a “Den of Depression” cojone blasting loss for us Buc fans but maybe, just maybe the wise guys in Vegas are onto something with this near push line and an “upset” occurs.

  4. Beej Says:

    If this crap continues to the break, I can see the owners ordering BA back to head coach position, Todd and Byron back to their original roles (BA wouldn’t tolerate them being fired)

  5. Waterboy Says:

    How much did the news of Brady’s planned exodus to Miami, vacation during training camp, and flying out to a wedding before a game factor into the psyche of the team? Me personally I’d think this guys not all-in.

  6. Cobraboy Says:

    @Waterboy: I suspect Brady, et al, thought their spit didn’t stink to the extent they didn’t *NEED* the practice time and team building.

  7. alton green Says:

    I guess this is why i’m not a gambler but I would take the Ravens regardless of how many points they give the Bucs I’ve seen NOTHING from the 2 coaches that would make me bet on the Bucs. Byron wouldn’t admit he’s wrong and Todd, hell he never says anything until it’s too late. Does anybody have an extra valium for tonight

  8. FortMyersDave Says:

    @Waterboy, the flying out to the wedding and missing the Saturday walk through was definitely big, just one of those FGs converted to a TD and the Yucs might have won. The 11 day hiatus during training camp surely affected the club too but optimists will point to the 2-0 start to counter. I say the Bucs are lucky Dallas was not prepared to play and that the Saints are actually a worse club than the Bucs if Jameis starts for them, else Tampa could be a 1 dash 6 franchise right now.

  9. Lt. Dan Says:

    I really believe that the game was submarined when Evans dropped that deep TD pass in the first quarter. Evans never drops those types of passes and I just felt the team deflate. At that point I knew it was over.

  10. Listnfrmafar Says:

    Why is it ok for a coach to take a personal day off and a player cannot? Roger’s, Wilson, Ryan, Carr, Hebert,.Jackson all experiencing the same thing, didn’t see any of them in the Kraft picture. Unlike Roger’s Brady isn’t throwing any teammates under the bus, he addresses the issues to their faces. Wayerboy(you got the boy right) it’s been stated many times on this site, to audible you need the correct personal in place which is controlled by BL. You don’t audible a downfield pass when three TE’s are on the field.

    There will be NO RED PEN because the brains of the operation Bowels clearly stated in a presser this is NOT Brady’s offense it’s BL. With that philosophy I don’t care what the odds makers say Ravers 35-3.

  11. Tampabaybucfan Says:

    The offense is scripted to begin games…..we have not scored a TD in the first quarter in 7 straight games.

    Here’s the question….How do we know that Brady hasn’t already used the red pen and come up short?

  12. Listnfrmafar Says:

    May I suggest a new Thursday night series Alaskan Daily. You can catch when your done watching the first quarter tonight.

  13. m Says:

    guaranteed loss tonight for the bucs. don’t watch

  14. Beej Says:

    Brady taking time off was a bigger deal to sports writers than anyone else. Allowed coaches to get a better handle on what Trask could do, as that won’t happen during the season

  15. Dooley Says:

    @TampaBayBucFan

    Exactly!!Brady is in his 3rd year in a system that he initially struggled in year 1 and had ridiculous success in year 2, to think he wouldn’t have some type of influence/sway over playcalling in year 3 is playing naive just so some can dogpile Byron Leftwich. The thing is, nobody knows with any certainty what’s called in from the sideline, how it changes in the huddle/pre-snap, but we do see how it’s executed on the field and so far it’s stunk the joint up more often than not.

  16. Listnfrmafar Says:

    So what your saying Dooley is Brady is calling a double reverse pass with back ups to kill a drive, or run up the middle on 1st & 20 and after the dropped ball by Evan’s 2 & 10 after Evan’s drop run up the middle for minus 1 yd? Bowles stated this is BL’s offense NOT Brady’s and we are all witnessing it. When is the last time Brady shook off BL? It used to be commonplace, it’s clear Bowles put a stop to that. I’ve watched this guy for years and NEVER seen him so frustrated. He used to be by McDaniels side on the bench after every D series, you NEVER see him with BL. BA’s buddies Toilet Bowels and Byron Leftnut have killed the Goat.

  17. ATLBucsFan Says:

    Poor line play on both sides of the ball is the issue and there are no solutions for that. Talent on the lines is NOT what it has been for the past few years! Until that improves quality execution will suffer. It’s turning into a long season.

  18. JimmyfromNY Says:

    Blaming Brady is absolutely shortsighted. Has he missed throws 100% he has. Again every quarterback in the league misses throws every game. But you add in the combination of the worst running game in the history of the NFL, horrific line play especially up the middle at G/C, wide receivers that can’t get open if they do theyv dropped the ball or can’t break a tackle, and playcalling that isn’t good enough for a high school team in Wyoming. Brady still throwing the ball at a high level there’s no question about it , could he play better , yes , is he the issue , absolutely no!!

  19. Dooley Says:

    LMAO @Listnfrmafar

    I’m not doing this with a guy who sounds more like a Brady/Patriots PR rep than a fan watching the game of football. What I typed is what I said, not the paraphrased perversion of what you “think” I said lol Brady isn’t a mindless juggs machine, and if you think he doesn’t have insight into calls & gameplans you apparently refuse to appreciate how football works or the fact this is the best QB of a generation where he’s 1 of 11 guys struggling to operate an offense he’s been pretty solid running the last 2 seasons.

  20. MadMax Says:

    Panthers: “We’re rebuilding, so yeah, we’re probably gonna lose this one”

    Bucs: “Here, hold my beer”

  21. Craig Says:

    I think Brady is looking for an out. Three sacks in the first quarter and he will be out for the rest of the year, whereupon he retires.

    Activate and dress Trask, it might become a necessary thing.

  22. tampabayallday Says:

    Honestly, they should consider trading brady if we crap the bed bad this game tonight. It’s a SHAME on the franchise how the coaching is wasting TB12 away.

  23. Listnfrmafar Says:

    Dooley, all I am saying is Bowles publically clearly stated this is BL’s O NOT Brady’s. Which means Bowles has neutered Brady somewhat. Absolutely Brady goes over the game plan with BL pregame but that does NOT mean he has the final say. For all we know Bowles could be taking the red pen to it. This does NOT look like a Brady/Patriots type offense like many believe. The Pat’s would use a fullback as blocker & receiver. Have we seen one flare pass to the backfield TE? Very few slants, rub passes, PA delay slant to RB, pick plays. I saw one pass play slant to the TE (Gronk like) in Carolina for a huge gain and didn’t see it again the entire game. Brady either doesn’t care(doubtful not in his DNA) or he is overruled. I choose the ladder.

  24. Pryda...Sec147 Says:

    Watch us dominate this game and put the NFL on notice we baccccckkkk

  25. Dooley Says:

    Bowles is parroting the same exact thing BA was has been saying since 2019 which doesn’t automatically equate to “Brady just goes along with the program” @Listnfrmafr honestly get a grip, you’re talking from a point where you’re taking a quip from the HC and putting way too much emphasis as if it’s all-encompassing.

    The is it Bradys’ offense or Arians’ offense debate was a thing back in 2020 when the team was still finding its’ bearings, none of it mattered when the offense was clicking more often than not. What we’re saying, now that the offense is struggling is people trying to play Leftwich vs. Brady as if the two aren’t supposed to be working in concert to get this offense going and predictably doing what fans do, when it’s going right you laude the QB and when it’s going wrong you crucify the staff.

    What TBBF eluded to is closer to the truth, and again for all the talk of predictability nobody is in the huddle and to think your 23 season vet doesn’t have the influence to shape a gameplan or audible in-games just to turn and bash the staff while absolving Brady is kind of hilarious, wrong, but still funny to read on a daily basis.

  26. Hodad Says:

    The G.M. might want to lose Joe, but the team sure isn’t trying to lose. Did the Panthers look to you like they were trying to lose Joe? Far from it. Just because a team is looking to rebuild by trading players doesn’t mean the coaches, and the players are trying to lose. Just a dumb, untrue statement. Unless you were talking about the Bucs Joe. Our players, and coaches looked like they were trying to lose for the last two weeks. Mission accomplished.

  27. Listnfrmafar Says:

    Dooley, you really see the same offense as the last two seasons? I don’t, when is the last time you saw a go route on 3rd & 1 or 4th & 2? Sure there are common plays but as much as I am not a fan of BA due to his work ethic, it is more than obvious his influence on the play calling is missed. Once AGAIN personnel choices is on BL.

  28. Mayhoff Says:

    The Bucs are done for this season. They will LOSE against the Ravens. If they manage to win it will be a surprise. The Coach needs…to…go. Bowles is the reason for the Bucs falling flat. Bring back Arians and they would immediately start winning again. Shame.

  29. orlbucfan Says:

    Hope the fossil get carted off the field. I don’t like Gabbert, but at least he’s not a fossil and can scramble. He will give the entire team a mental boost even if it isn’t enough to help them win. Lamar Jackson? Tony Dungy’s defense would have feasted on him.

  30. Listnfrmafar Says:

    Oral, you’re skipping this game because Prime is too expensive $9.99/mos. That’s two cans of chew for you Billy Bob.

  31. GrafikDetail.com Says:

    Make Red Pens Great Again!

  32. BAM Says:

    Hoping that a player gets hurt bad enough to be carted off the field is pathetic.