As signs go, the clock is literally running on Tom Brady while he’s trying to make a desperate comeback, pretty on the nose.
After an offensive on Sunday against Green Bay that would require three shots of espresso even to describe as anemic, Brady finally started doing Brady things. With 3:04 remaining in the game, down 14-6 and starting from his 11-yard line, Brady engineered one of those old TB12 fourth-quarter drives that saw the Bucs hit the Green Bay goal line. taken to the edge of
We have seen this film before. Touchdown, two-point conversion, win in overtime. Only this time, the film took a turn and the film opened on the floor. On the scoring play – Brady on a short pass to the middle of the Russell gauge – the Bucs defer the penalty to delay the game by microseconds, because “0” clearly means “no time left” in the NFL. .
But Aaron Rodgers, who never misses an opportunity to deceive his many enemies, said the Raymond James Stadium scoreboard operator had made the crucial mistake of showing that the clock had, in fact, run out before the Bucs snatched the ball. . Rodgers passed along the information, and just like that, the Bucs were slapped with a crushing delay-of-game penalty on a two-point conversion.
A manageable two yards became an improbable seven yards to tie the game, and Brady’s desperate power was tipped by linebacker D’Vondre Campbell for the gauge. The clock bit Brady, and the Bucs lost, 14-12.
“Bad execution, that’s what it really is,” Brady said after the game. “Bad execution on offense at a time when we needed good execution.”
Now the question is, 2-1 How concerned should Tampa Bay be? Answer: Not much yet…
Tampa Bay has now scored exactly three offensive touchdowns throughout the season — in each of its three games — and continues to struggle with its offensive identity. The Books’ roster looks a lot like your fantasy team from three or four years ago—names you’d recognize, but production is well below its peak and, in many cases, rapidly declining.
“We just have to do a better job,” Brady said, noting both his voice and his level of meaning. “It’s not just one thing. We’re not running as well as we could have, the pass game isn’t great, the screen game … a lot of things.”
The team has also suffered from wicked runs from receivers lost to either injury (Chris Godwin, Julio Jones) or suspension (Mike Evans). The Bucs literally pulled a receiver off the road—Cole Beasley, who has substantial NFL experience, but still—and targeted him four times for 12 yards. For all the jokes about Brady being able to bring down four bros from the stands and turn them into an elite receiving corps, it’s still the NFL, and there will be no mercy for Brady’s plight.
“We didn’t need those (missing) guys to win this ballgame, we just needed to play smarter,” said Tampa Bay head coach Todd Bowles. “Genius had nothing to do with the way we shot ourselves in the foot.”
Brady allowed himself a rare moment of humor in what has been an otherwise gloomy early season, when he talked about his breakaway run, an 18-yard scalper who was eventually recalled on another penalty. “I saw a lot of open green grass and no packers. I can turn a 40-yard advantage into an 18-yard advantage better than anyone in the NFL,” he smiled. “But if I’m running it, it’s usually not a good thing.”
On the positive side: suspension ends, (some) injuries heal… and then there’s rescue. The Bucs’ defense leads the NFL on points allowed at 9.0 per game, and is fourth in allowed yards per game, at 289. Rodgers guided the Packers to two touchdowns in his first two drives, but after that, the Tampa Bay defense strengthened and forced a fumble, an interception, and five three-and-outs, keeping the Packers scoreless for the rest of the game. done.
The box gets no chance to rest; A marquee game against the Chiefs awaits on Sunday night. The Chiefs aren’t invincible – the Colts’ loss to Sunday is proof – but the Bux’s offense will need to step up to keep up with Patrick Mahomes.
“We are 2-1. There is a lot of football left, we will keep working on it,” Brady said. “No one is sorry for us, nor should we. Have to go back to work now.”
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Contact Jay Busbee at [email protected] or on Twitter here @jaybusbee,