While many people are worried about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 20-19 loss to the Chicago Bears on Thursday Night Football, Hall of Fame wide receiver Michael Irvin is not one of them. During NFL First Take on Sunday, Irvin allayed worried about the Buccaneers’ bitter defeat to the Bears. “I’m not concerned because I know Tom Brady can get it done,” said Irvin. Irvin believes other teams that the Buccaneers will next face cannot deliver the same kind of pressure that the Bears put on Brady, who was sacked three times for a loss of 20 yards. “Most of the time, you won’t have any other defense that can get the kind of pressure that Chicago got on him.
He should be fine,” said Irvin.
Short week takes toll on Brady
Also, Irvin is convinced that the short week had taken its toll on the 43-year-old Brady, who was undefeated on Thursday Night Football on short rest in his 20-year career before their loss to the Bears. “I thought the team was coming together the week before this. It was just three-day rest that’s hard on people. He had just a three-day rest. He was undefeated on Thursday night,” Irvin pointed out. “I think he’ll still be fine,” added Irvin, stressing that the mini-bye should do Brady some good before they take on the undefeated Green Bay Packers in Week 6. Irvin’s views were the same as that of Colin Cowherd, who blamed the penalties, bad pass protection, and the short week for the Buccaneers’ loss.
The Buccaneers committed 11 penalties for a loss of 109 yards, a thing that Brady talked about during his post-game press conference. Brady lamented the penalties that the team committed, saying they stopped the momentum of their drives. “So we've got to tighten that up and just play a more consistent type of football,” the veteran quarterback said.
Despite the loss, the Buccaneers remain on top of the NFC South with a 3-2 mark, ahead of the New Orleans Saints.
Arians promises to address penalties
Many analysts have criticized Buccaneers' head coach Bruce Arians for the lack of discipline on his team that led to the penalties against the Bears. In his post-game press conference, Arians tackled questions about the penalties that cost his team the game.
Arians admitted that his team won’t beat anyone by committing many penalties. “You're not going to beat anybody with 12 penalties or however many we had,” said Arians, adding that they ended up punting on one drive because of six or seven penalties. Arians took the blame for the penalties, saying he failed to prepare his team to play. The veteran head coach also promised to address the problem of penalties that hounded them against the Bears. In the same press conference, Arians said that Pro Bowl wide receiver Chris Godwin’s status against the Packers remains unclear.