Several analysts came to the defense of Tampa Bay Buccaneers veteran quarterback Tom Brady after he was called out by head coach Bruce Arians following their 38-3 loss to the New Orleans Saints on Sunday night. During a media conference a day after they lost to the Saints, Arians pointed to some of Brady’s poor throws during the game, per a report by Jason Owens of Yahoo Sports. When asked if Brady’s first-half end-zone throw to wide receiver Antonio Brown was a miscommunication, Arians replied “just a poor throw”. Arians added that Brady also misread Chris Godwin’s route so his pass ended up as another interception.

Arians also stressed that Pro Bowl wideout Mike Evans was not targeted despite being open.

Spears furious about Arians’ action

Arians’ comments did not sit well with some analysts, including Marcus Spears and Jeff Saturday, who were both former NFL players. “I was furious,” said Spears during ESPN’s “Get Up,” as transcribed by the author from the program’s YouTube video. Spears added that the coaching staff didn’t need to mention any name after their beating at the hands of the Saints as the offensive line and defense also performed badly as well. Spears called the game plan of Arians and offensive coordinator Bryan Leftwich against the Saints as “horrible” and they failed to make the necessary adjustments as the game went along.

“Give them a better plan, see if they can execute it, and then you can run into them if they don’t execute the game plan the right way,” Spears said.

Arians doesn’t make any sense

For Saturday, Arian's calling out of Brady for the team's poor performance “doesn’t make any sense.” Saturday said Brady should be kept in an intact pocket for him to perform better.

In the Buccaneers’ six wins this season, the opponents only had 4 ½ quarterback pressures. In their three losses, Brady experienced an average of 13 quarterback pressures, including 19 by the Saints. Brady completed just 22 of 38 passes for 209 yards with no touchdown and three interceptions in the loss. Despite the whooping that the offensive line got, Saturday said Arians failed to make the necessary adjustments to keep the ball out of Brady’s hands much quicker.

“That’s on you BA (Bruce Arians). Don’t put this thing on one guy,” said Saturday, adding that Arians should not be dividing the team by saying that Evans is open. “That was a ridiculous comment,” Saturday said. For Stephen A. Smith, Arians is "weak" for calling Brady out for his mistakes. "It's kind of weak for Bruce Arians to be calling him out like that," Smith said during ESPN's "First Take."

Brady says consistency is key to winning

During an interview with Jim Gray on Westwood One Radio, Brady stressed that the team needed to be consistent, offensively, by stringing together plays to score points, per a report by Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times. Brady said that the Buccaneers were consistent in practice, but they failed to show it during games.

As for now, Brady said they will figure out how to improve things so they can be better when they take on the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. Earlier, Brady said everyone should be better and it starts with him.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED