Under Pressure, Tom Brady Was Awful

December 20th, 2021

Crumbled.

NextGen Stats often comes up with cool nuggets. This one is damning for the Bucs and may very well be the blueprint for any Bucs playoff opponent. And maybe even the Stinking Panthers.

Last night the Saints hatched an excellent defensive plan and were regularly able to pressure Tom Brady. And the greatest quarterback didn’t handle it well at all, documents Grant Gordon of NFL.com.

Next Gen stat of the game: Tom Brady was 3 of 9 for 19 yards (with four sacks) when under pressure.

So Joe is quite confident that when the playoffs begin next month, every team the Bucs face will throw everything including the kitchen sink (and maybe the bathtub, too) to get pressure on Brady.

It seems the slimy Saints have developed the blueprint.

50 Responses to “Under Pressure, Tom Brady Was Awful”

  1. Medicated Pete Says:

    He’s just waiting to retire. He’s done.

  2. Winny Testaverde Says:

    Must agree with the Dedicated, Medicated one here…he’s probably over it at this point. I would have understood if he walked off after last year’s SB win…really only way to go from there is down unless there’s a low percentage “miracle” repeat. He’s having to count on scrubs at this point…throwing Microsoft Tablets like Belichick did last year. Not a great look.

  3. D-Rome Says:

    Most of the Bucs on offense played as if they partied all night the night before.

    Defense was very good, and it was good to see Tryon-Shoyinka show up on the stat sheet.

  4. Hodad Says:

    Most QB’s are worse under pressure. The first day of winter is tomorrow. Some things never change.

  5. Bruce Blahak Says:

    No urgency. Sleepwalking through regular season.

  6. Bird Says:

    Of course he struggled. Been shut out 3 times in his 21 or 22 year career. It wasnt good enough. No excuses.

    But

    Throwing passes to darden. I mean this guy is not ready for the big leagues. If arians does not replace with mickens then arians is just stubborn old man

    Johnson and scooter. Did you all watch the game. Scooter was open one play where brady was about to get sacked Those guys had blankets around them

    They took gronk out of game . They knew what we are running for the last 6 games.

    So you have a qb that is dan marino esq. cant run. So you drop him back what almost 50 times with no one open and a dline that was kicking our butt in the trenches. Of course he struggled. Other qbs would have scrambled out of a few. That is bradys one trait that gets him in trouble.

    But yah. The haters gonna hate and say he is trash now. The sky is falling. 😂

  7. bucsfan4life Says:

    i mean, he is the least mobile QB in the league, of course he is terrible under duress. We just need to protect better. Instead of having 5 wide, keep our TE in to block, etc. we didn’t adjust schematically AT ALL last night. we should have gone into a run oriented scheme with just play action with all of those injuries. Going 5 wide with the backups….you are going to get no one open and Tom getting beaten up. He isnt Lamar jackson, he cant get out and create with his legs.

  8. DoooshLaRue Says:

    If TB is the one calling for the long passes on 3rd / 4th and short he needs to be smacked.
    If it’s BL….. then he needs to be a HC.

  9. tampabuscsbro Says:

    Leftwich is terrible. The scheming is horrid. You would think we would change ANYTHING after half time but no no adjustments were made everyone got hurt by a dirty team and the scrubs could do nothing.

    A famous youtuber talks about teams being bailed by high end talent named tree. We are the worst suspect.

  10. Red86 Says:

    Everyone is horrible under that kind of pressure. The problem is how predictable the play calling were last night. Also, mental mistakes in the blocking.

    Shotgun sets are obvious passing set. It’s 3rd and 4. Shotgun set. Fornette motions from the backfield to the wide receivers area. Nobody really adjusted to the motion. What type of play we are running? Pass is the correct answer. If we know this, then surely the coaches and players knows this. The thing to do is bring back the running back to block the d line that’s clearly thinking let get the qb.

    We don’t establish the run game early. This lead to the defense not respecting it later. There’s nothing cool about having a qb throw 40, 50 and 60 times. That’s usually a recipe for disaster. The lack of balance is Leftwich fault. This is why the Saints d line were fresh in the 4th quarter. No one was continually beaten up in the run. Our o line wasn’t allowed to beat up and frustrate their d linemen. Our o linemen were constantly going backward the whole night. Not surprised they got beat at time.

    You run to set up the pass. You pass to set up the run. You have to run and pass. A balance offense is an unpredictable offense.

  11. Listnfrmafar Says:

    Yes it wasn’t his best game, two turnovers trying to make something happen, the WR were ALL covered, he could of avoided some sacks by throwing it up and creating more turnovers. Even when to wr were open they dropped easy receptions even sure.hands Gronk. The sideline one he dropped would of changed the game. Our D did the same thing to Hill, beat him up. Only one bad drive and botched punts gave them field position. Crucial running into the punter with just under 4 min left. Coaches made no adjustments. It’s a feeling like waking up after you slept with your best friends girlfriend, ya can’t take it back. Brady is old, rush him up the middle, disrupt the pocket, blah, blah, blah. He’s been there and heard it all, he will rebound. The question is, will the team???

  12. SB Says:

    Tom was AWFUL ALL NIGHT!
    The Saints were in his head! WAY too many times did I see him go with his first read without hesitation. He was not the same QB last night. He was frightened.

  13. Cobraboy Says:

    In Brady’s defense, when his main guys went down, he really had nothing left.

    The drop-off from Godwin, Evans, and Brown to Miller, Johnson, and Darden is like falling off a cliff.

    Double Gronk and there ain’t much left.

    That said, I will not be surprised if that horrendous offensive performance makes the wheels come off.

    I am not that optimistic about the future of this team this season.

    There is something missing that I just can’t understand, and it ain’t talent or Brady.

  14. zzbuc Says:

    Just a bad night….. Sh*t happens…….We should be fine……

    Lots of faith on this team

  15. SB Says:

    @Bird
    Mickens is in Jacksonville.

  16. mickman Says:

    The game I watched he looked to be under pressure every pass play. A whole lot more than 9 plays. ridiculous stats

  17. Sean Says:

    He may be costing himself the MVP down the stretch. The press WANTS to give it to Mahomes or Matt Stat-pad-ford. If they can find an excuse not to give it to him, they will give it to someone else. Rogers is definitely playing better right now but he won’t win it.

  18. Tackleblockwin Says:

    The Saints are in our heads. The injuries didn’t help. This Bucs team needs to run the ball better to set up play action. Will history repeat itself for the third time. Bucs have won their two previous SB after getting swept by Saints in regular season. Maybe, just maybe the Saints are the Bucs wake up call.

  19. Ben green Says:

    Cobraboy, The problem is coaching. Bruce arians is about a useful as boobs on a boar, and leftwit isn’t much better. It’s not necessary to get five guys into the pattern every play. I saw very little chipping from backs and TE’s. Even as Brady was facing withering pressure. It’s the OCs job to make those changes, not Brady. As great as he is, he still needs coaching, especially when things aren’t going well. That stupid blank look on leftwits face said it all. When they get bounced, and they will, it’s time to put Arians to bed, and move on from leftwit. Josh McDaniels would be an excellent choice for head coach

  20. Steven007 Says:

    This supposed new blueprint narrative is garbage. It’s no different than what the narrative has been on Brady for the past 10 years. I remember hearing the same crap last year. How did that turn out? Not saying I’m not concerned, but this is nothing new in terms of pressure causing Brady to be ineffective.

  21. Buczilla Says:

    Brady was under siege all night and every single one of our offensive linemen was terrible. We lost three of our best offensive players and the coaching was terrible to maybe just plain nonexistent. I mean, what was the plan anyway? Block no one, call stupid plays, pray that the saints garbage quarterback throws a pick six, and let our 44 year old qb get smashed over and over again. Look, Brady sucked too, but this loss is on every single offensive player and coach.

    Darden needs to be benched at this point and I’m joining that negative band wagon. Let old man Richard Sherman return kicks and punts at this point, since this Darden kid is not good yet and I doubt that Sherman would look like a deer in the headlights.

    Thank you Todd Bowles for finally figuring out how to stop a gosh awful quarterback. Thank goodness it’s the week of Christmas to hopefully help us forget this a$$ whuppin a little sooner than normal. 🎅

  22. Listnfrmafar Says:

    For a minute there I thought SB was Oneilbucyall but he couldn’t be he doesn’t type in broken English. SB you know nothing about the game. Brady was frightened, you could clearly see him going through his progressions and seeing nothing, hence sacks. He didn’t look to scared dodging flying defenders all night and took off running knowing he was going to get popped, he wasn’t sliding on that play. What he did know was he needed to make something happen in order to spark this team and he failed. A man afraid doesn’t walk over to the defending bench by himself and tell the coach to go F themselves. Ya know what cowards do? They see another receiver get crushed, catch one ball and call it a day, ya that’s your hero, Mr. One and Done ME13.

  23. August 1976 Buc Says:

    He’s been there and heard it all, he will rebound. The question is, will the team???

    Good question List, and you make the point, that it is not all Brady, who one the Championship last year. TEAM game TEAM Sport

    GO BUCS!!!

  24. DoooshLaRue Says:

    My my, these genius comments from yesterday didn’t age very well now did they?
    ___________

    Swampbuc Says:
    December 19th, 2021 at 3:03 pm
    I’ve been assured by the secret cabal of experts who post here that Donovan Smith is trash, and the offensive line is average at best. They “don’t see it” — these experts.

    Of course they would know more than Tom Brady about it. Jason Licht should call a meeting with these geniuses to get their input after they are all cut for being so bad.

    Steven007 Says:
    December 19th, 2021 at 3:06 pm
    Tom, I must disagree with you about Donnie. Why? Glad you asked. Because some of the posters on the site just don’t like him that much. And us posters consider ourselves very highly qualified in all matters whether it be football, politics, and oh I don’t know the environment?

    /Sarcasm, for those of you who might need the tag

  25. King C Says:

    Thanks to fantasy football, idiot fans now think of themselves as owners with the nerve to go on forums and curse out players.

  26. Billy Ray Jay Says:

    The Bucs have looked janky in a lot of their games this season, even ones they have won. Several wins they could have easily lost and only won by luck—not skill and smart play. Biggest problem I see is the play calling is TERRIBLE. Has been all season. They’re so freaking predictable that it’s no wonder other teams are so prepared for them—they’re play set is like 10 plays. They’ve also been lackadaisical all season. I can’t even remember one game where I saw them truly fired up and play with real fire in their eyes. And of course they have no depth. They’ve been in trouble all season because of their lack of depth. And that all came to a head in their utter collapse against the Saints.

  27. Conte Piscatelli Says:

    I was screaming at the tv as on every 3rd and 3 or 4th and 2 we threw deep instead of having some quick hitter designed to get 2 or 3 yards to move the chains. I don’t know if that was Brady’s decision or the play called but it was infuriating

  28. Chris@Apple Roof Cleaning Tampa Says:

    Brady looked bad because he had no one to thrown to! No one was getting open!
    Thank GOD we have AB coming back, because w/o Evans and Godwin and Fournette, we are screwed.
    There is a serious drop off between our back up and starting receivers

  29. Defense Rules Says:

    Too much whining by all of us. Barring a catastrophe, Bucs will win the NFC South for the 1st time since 2007. We will make the playoffs for only the 2nd time since 2007. Yup, that’s a 15-year slump. How far we go in the playoffs is up to us. If we play like last night? One-and-done. If we play like we played in the 1st half of the Bills game? How far we go will be anybody’s guess.

    The key more than anything IMO is to get guys healthy. Play with a bunch of subs in there & with some other starters nursing lingering injuries and we won’t go very far. Personally believe that it’ll be a number of years before we even smell the playoffs again, so this is it. Damn the torpedoes; full speed ahead. Excuses are for the losers.

  30. NPRSageBoy Says:

    All good things must come to an end.

    Looks like GOAT is ready for yoga.

  31. First Down Tampa Bay Says:

    To build on what Chris said, of course Brady was awful when the brought pressure because our 4th and 5th string receivers and our KR couldn’t get an inch of separation. Blitzing that heavily on every play was indicative of a lack of respect for our receivers, and boy were they sure right.

    As a result of ravaging injuries, there were numerous players that had an opportunity to prove themselves. Tyler Johnson, aside from one pretty good catch, looked slow and uninspiring. So much for being CG’s replacement huh. Scotty Miller proved he is just a one trick pony: Go deep. Jaelen Darden looked out of sync on every single ball that came his way. He was always 3-4 yards away from where he was supposed to be, not to mention his Kick and Punt returns looked indecisive and slow. Jaydon Mickens, where are you? RoJo, best running performance he’s had all season, granted a very low bar to clear. It’s contract-earning time over these next three games. OJ Howard was arguably the biggest disappointment. I still cannot believe he can’t get himself on the field, even in the most desperate of situations. Finally, KeShaun Vaughn. Vaughn looked consistently out of step in the passing game, and caught the ire of Brady at least one time. Very frustrating game for him, and one that I’m sure will not earn him much playing time moving forward. Gio Bernand picked a great week to get hurt…

    Overall, very disappointed though and through. Most disappointing Bucs game I’ve seen since.. last year’s Saints game. Go figure.

  32. Ben green Says:

    When things aren’t going well for Brady, his decision making sometimes breaks down. That goes for play calling as well. Someone should’ve told him, “were committing to the run, because you’re going to get killed, or get a reciever killed” they lost on their terms. If Brady isn’t excellent, this offense has very little to fall back on.

  33. Ben green Says:

    You sure about that cretin brown? If your superbowl aspirations are tied to that puke, I wish you losts of luck

  34. Listnfrmafar Says:

    Ben, you have a short memory. For the Pat’s he played 1 game had 5 catches and a TD. Bet you were cheering in the stands then. Then out of nowhere the all righteous, Asian rub & tug lover, sex trafficking scandal dodhing Robert Kraft let’s him go for a stupid tweet and other allegations that were swept under the rug some true, some not and Brown paid, just like Kraft bought his way out of his scandal. So don’t give us your holier than thou opinion if you’re still a Pat’s fan.

  35. chummaster01 Says:

    Wow the Venom LMFAO believe it or not I’m really a huge Bucs fan! But you apologist refuse to see the writing on the wall!! Beli knew what he was doing when he let Tommy go, maybe a year too soon ,but that was our blessing, but just like Peyton started showing the signs that the end was near,now its TOMMY’s turn father time is undefeated im 60 and trust me everythingg aches sometimes at his age the hits have to be magnified pain wise . But whether you guys like it or not I could see the fear in Brady’s eyes and his play certainly showed it so hate on me if you want but the truth is the end is near!! OBTW Jameis was outplaying Brady when he got hit illegally and not to mention playing with talent inferrior to the Bucs thanks for the trophy Tom but almost time to stay home with your Queen!!

  36. SaintsFan59 Says:

    Tantrum Tom sucked. Period.

  37. Beeej Says:

    Buncha negative nancies up in here

  38. Steven007 Says:

    Doosh, Donnie was the least of our problems last night, and you know it. I understand face saving and all that, but contextually reposting that is just silly. And it certainly doesn’t erase his good to very good play for the rest of the year. Come on man…

  39. JEV Says:

    I am shocked at how negative you guys are about the Bucs. Fair weather fans is an understatement. Have we forgotten that we won the Super Bowl last year? Would you rather be a Jaguars fan? How about a Falcons fan?

    So they laid an egg last night, that in no way justifies the level of pessimism and negativity in these comments. Why don’t we fire Bruce and hire Urban Meyer, I’m sure that he can fix everything.

  40. Joe Says:

    Have we forgotten that we won the Super Bowl last year?

    Last year. Past history.

    Joe doesn’t think it’s wrong for any Bucs fan to be peeved at last night’s offensive performance. They should be called out for shatting all over themselves like that on national TV.

  41. Defense Rules Says:

    I don’t disagree with you Joe that Bucs’ fans have a right to be peeved about last night’s game. But fans (and media) need to keep that 1 game in perspective. We’ve got a LOT of guys hurt right now, and the team that laid the goose egg last night wasn’t the same team that got us 10 wins thus far this season.

    Bucs mortgaged the farm to make another run at the Super Bowl this year. Whatever this year’s ride ends up looking like, we all need to cherish the journey while it lasts. Once the playoffs start, anything can happen.

  42. PassingThru Says:

    And Brady was under pressure early and often last night. The Buc O Line was just overwhelmed last night.

  43. stpetebucsfan Says:

    As usual I agree with D.R. It was ONE game but yes it reveals a tough road ahead.

    First…I HATE the Saints but give the dicks credit they played their arses off. They have the 6th ranked Defense in the entire league and the #1 RUN DEFENSE IN THE LEAGUE’. Not just against us but against the league!!! They make MANY teams one dimensional and then you mix in perhaps the overall best group of DB’s in the league!

    I HATE the Saints but I do respect them. They’re offense is too banged up to be taken seriously but they have a STOUT D!

  44. DoooshLaRue Says:

    Steven007,

    No, DD looked bad last night, although he wasn’t alone.
    His one big move to the outside was taken away and he was easily beat. He still struggles with inside moves. His man didn’t get all the sacks but it was a contributing factor in collapsing the pocket.

    And my biggest gripe about him is his ” I got my guy” mentality.
    Case in point last night: he knocked his guy to the ground (great) but then just stood over him instead of looking to make another block, and that block was needed.
    Give him all the credit you want.
    I’ll admit he’s played better this year but the Pro Bowl talk and the accolades are ridiculous.
    He’s that guy at work that does just enough but never any extra.

    With all that said, the GOAT lost the game for us.

  45. Ash Says:

    Every QB underpressure is terrible this isnt rocket science

  46. unbelievable Says:

    The blueprint is out:

    Play 2 deep safeties and hit Tom Brady in the 1st quarter = Scared Tom going turtle all night.

  47. Ed Says:

    The Saints and the Rams have the Bucs number. If you have creative and smart coaches like Sean Payton, Sean McVay, they know how to attack weaknesses.

    Bowles knew how to attack the shell of an offense New Orleans has. Leftwich on the other hand Leftwich was outcoached by Dennis Allen, who exploited the Bucs offensive game plan knowing the plays before they were ran.

    This offense has to start doing some new things because the defenses have these plays figured out. If you are trying to pass the ball against teams like the Saints that press the receivers off routes then you need to push get the running game going.

  48. Anonymous Says:

    Nobody was open after 3 seconds of every snap. Johnson and Miller ran terrible routes. Leftwich didn’t adjust to take advtange of their scheme. It’s what you get. The offensive line shouldn’t take the blame for this.

  49. Conte Piscatelli Says:

    The saints and the rams both use the same recipe. They can create pressure with 4 linemen and play exotic coverage because they have a shutdown corner. That is not common among the rest of the league. That’s why we have won more than we lost

    Side note to defense rules: we did lose last night in part because of all the talent that wasn’t on the field, but I’m not so sure we see any of the guys we lost last night again this season or post season. So yes the doom and gloom is real. If we plan to Trot out that bunch of scrubs in the playoffs we will get embarrassed

  50. Scooter Says:

    It must be humiliating for the Buc players to be owned by another team for such a long time. Belechick would have figured out how to score 10 points to win a home game. Come April Darden should be playing on a USFL team. A stiff wind would knock him over. Tired of Brady on 3rd and short throwing low percentage deep passes where Bucs end up punting the ball. Maintain possession and get the First Down. In a 17 game regular season, Furnette and Rojo should have been sharing the carries from the season opener. Bucs should have worked hard on developing a consistent running game from the season opener.