Mini Jerk Reactions to Week 11: Tom Brady vs. the Rams

I've been reminded of this a few times this season, and now seems like the perfect time to work it into the conversation. Back in the early '80s, Celtics coach Bill Fitch made the postgame remark, "I've often said nothing Larry Bird could do would ever surprise me. I stand corrected." He said it after a game in which Bird posted this stat line:

37 minutes, 0 for 9 FGs, 0 for 0 FTs, 0 points

Last night, Tom Brady surprised me in the same way. 

I mean, this was just set up perfectly for him to pull off one of his late game "By the power of Greyskull!" transformations and ride his magical tiger on a game winning drive like he has (and I'm just going by memory, not looking it up) 975 times before. After taking a 24-17 lead with 20 minutes to go in the game, the Rams offense did everything Sean McVayly possible to set up Brady to be the hero. They went: Punt, Punt (-6 yards on the drive), Punt, Interception. But like the proud man that he is, Brady refused their help and instead kept giving it back to them. After the touchdown that made it a 7-point game, the Bucs went: Punt, Punt (-5), Punt, Downs. Then after a touchdown to tie it, and a subsequent Rams field goal gave him the ball down by 3 with more than 2 1/2 minutes to play, Brady threw up this ball. And in his mouth. 

It was surreal. When you're facing a 2nd & 10 with just under 2:00 to go and a time out needing about 25 yards for the tie and decide to airfreight one to Cameron Brate on a go in bracket coverage with the safety sitting on top of the route? That is some next level situational unawareness. But in Brady's defense, it was not the worst throw he made to Jordan Fuller on the night. That would be this one:

I appreciate the irony of a Buckeye who was the 199th pick intercepting the Wolverine who was the 199th pick - twice - almost as much as the awfulness of this throw. It's like a catcher sailing one over second base on a steal attempt and the centerfielder catching it on the fly. If he'd make that throw in front of scouts at Serra High, the Expos never would've drafted him.

The thing is, these didn't appear to be cleverly disguised coverages or Ed Reed using his magic powers to appear in one part of the formation and then teleport into your target's route tree. These were just egregious misses. The kind that make the backup QB start looking for his helmet on about a third of the teams in the league. And staying true to the Coach Toughlove character Bruce Arians has been playing all year, he was not making excuses.

Wait. I'm a little fuzzy on this. Is he saying it's a misread of the coverage problem? I just want to be clear. 

But maybe it's something else. Because in prime time games, the Bucs are 1-3 now. And that one win was a squeaker over an objectively terrible Giants team. On the season, Brady has 25 touchdowns and nine interceptions. In the prime time games, he's got five and five. Some guys can't handle the pressure of a nationally televised game, but I'm guessing that's not the case here. Perhaps it's a night vision problem. It could be his legs and arm aren't going, it's his eyes. I had the same prescription since first grade but had to get progressives when I was in my 40s. It happened to me. It happened to Captain Kirk. It might be time for Brady to get some vision correction. It might help him in these night games. And more importantly, we know he'd wear the shit out of a pair of frames. Give it a shot and join the club.

To be fair to Brady yet again, those picks weren't his worst two throws. Those had the unique distinction of coming on the same play. 

First of all, hitting Terrell Lewis in the armpit is Tebowesque. But then to get the ball back and try to try a sleight of hand second pass is another thing entirely. The football equivalent of treating the officials like a 2-year-old nephew whose nose you just stole. If he'd run with the ball and broke the pocket he might have turned it into a positive play with the Rams dropped into coverage. Instead he went full Michael Scott at Magic Camp and didn't fool anyone. I'd be embarrassed for him if it wasn't so strange and hilarious. 

If I was still counting on Brady to make the rest of my season - meaning, if I wasn't still in this weird headspace where I still love the man and everything he did here but want to see him wish he'd never left - I'd be dying at the sight of this. You look at the deep talent pool he's got all around him and realize he's got everything a quarterback could ask for. Aaron Rodgers must look at Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Scotty Miller, Antonio Brown, Rob Gronkowski and Leonard Fournette the way a Soviet peasant looked at "Dallas" and wondered how it could be possible to be so rich. How many pairs of receivers on one team are capable of this?

This is everything Brady dreamed of. Plus he's got Gronk and his roomie Antonio Brown that together can form a triad of best buds/teammates (10 catches on 19 targets for 82 yards between them). He got the benefit of three huge defensive pass interference calls in the 1st half. His defense forced turnovers and made stops on a remarkable seven 2nd half drives. Yet when he wasn't throwing picks he was letting drives go nowhere. A possession that started at the Rams 22 gained two yards settled for a field goal. The next five possessions averaged less than four plays and no points. 

And I'll be damned if I can figure out what the issues are. DPIs aside, the Rams coverage was good for much of the night. Darious Willams in particular was outstanding, with multiple PBUs on Gronk and Brown. The knock on Brady has been that he doesn't handle middle pressure since before YouTube was invented. And while it's true to a point, it's true of every quarterback ever. It's an obvious point along the lines of saying they don't like having headlights coming straight towards them. But last night it was especially a factor. While Brady was only hit three times, and Aaron Donald was contained for the most part, his pocket was caved in from the inside quite a bit. But still. After 300 or so starts surrounded by a "Matrix"-like arsenal of weapons, you adjust. Brady didn't. The Bucs didn't. And another night game that should've been a win is a loss. 

At least he was gracious about it.