Analyst Max Kellerman is a known critic of Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady. He became famous for his “cliff theory”, where he declared three years ago that Brady’s performance is on the decline. However, Brady proved Kellerman wrong as he won his sixth Super Bowl ring following a 13-3 win over the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII. Despite this, Kellerman continues to despise Brady in the program “First Take,” which he co-hosts with Stephen A. Smith. So many viewers were surprised when Kellerman uttered praises to Brady during Monday’s broadcast following the Buccaneers’ impressive 38-10 triumph over the previously undefeated Green Bay Packers.

After committing 11 offensive penalties that led to the loss of 109 yards in their 20-19 loss to the Chicago Bears, the Buccaneers had no penalties in their win over the Packers. Kellerman pointed this improvement to Brady’s leadership. “I’ll say something nice about Tom Brady,” Kellerman said. “I was completely unsurprised that they played mistake-free football this week. And when people point to Brady’s leadership and all that, I do think that has something to do with the mistake-free performance.” Kellerman said a Tom Brady-quarterbacked team, after a game like last week against the Bears, will not repeat such a performance like that. “It doesn’t mean that it had to be perfect like they were yesterday basically but you know they’re not gonna repeat that and that is to his credit,” Kellerman said of Brady.

The 43-year-old Brady completed 17 of 27 throws for 166 yards and two touchdowns as he carried the Buccaneers to a 4-2 record, the best record in the NFC South as of now with the New Orleans Saints playing the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football.

Bowles’ defense torments Rodgers

Rodgers, for his part, completed 16 of 35 passes for 160 yards and two picks, one was returned for a touchdown by Jamel Dean, after he was tormented by the game plan laid out by Buccaneers' defensive coordinator Todd Bowles.

As pointed out by Jenna Laine of ESPN on Twitter, the Buccaneers, after allowing 144 yards of total offense in the first quarter, limited the Packers to just 57 yards over the last three quarters combined. “I thought Todd [Bowles] mixed it up really, really good with his fronts, blitzes [and] coverages,” Bucs head coach Bruce Arians said of his defensive coordinator.

Bucs trade for defensive tackle

The Buccaneers have boosted their defensive unit as they traded with the New York Jets for defensive tackle Steve McLendon. The Buccaneers shipped a sixth-round pick in 2022 for McLendon and a seventh-rounder in 2023, per a report by Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. McLendon played 24 snaps and recorded four tackles in the Jets’ 24-0 loss to the Miami Dolphins. McLendon will provide leadership and experience for the Buccaneers, who are trying to replace Vita Vea following his season-ending injury against the Bears.
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