This season, Tampa Bay Buccaneers veteran quarterback Tom Brady is proving that he can still keep up with the young quarterbacks in the NFL. In fact, the 43-year-old Brady is outplaying most of them when it comes to completions where he’s No. 1 in the league so far with 254. Brady also has 23 touchdown passes and 2,739 passing yards, both currently good for fourth in the NFL. Pro Football Focus added important information about Brady’s performance this season, mentioning in a tweet that the veteran quarterback has 94 of his 254 completions came when targeting single coverage, which is No.
1 in the league today. Brady has 19 more completions than the next quarterback on the list.
Tom Brady: 94 completions when targeting single coverage
19 more than any other QB
🐐 pic.twitter.com/h3o7sX441P
— PFF (@PFF) November 18, 2020
Brady has trouble finding Pro Bowl receiver Mike Evans this season due to the double coverage of opposing teams as he averaged only a career-low 51.4yards per game, per Cameron DaSilva of USA Today. Despite the double coverage, Evans remains Brady’s favorite target and connected with him for eight touchdowns, mostly coming in the red zone. In 10 games this season, Evans caught 40 passes on 63 targets for 514 yards. If Evans is double-teamed, Brady can also find other targets like Chris Godwin, Antonio Brown, and tight end Rob Gronkowski.
Godwin, another Pro Bowl receiver, has 34 catches on 41 targets for 412 yards and two touchdowns in six games this season.
Rams safeties to test Brady
There are many match-ups to look out for when the Buccaneers take on the Los Angeles Rams on Monday Night Football (MNF). One of them is Brady against the Rams secondary, led by cornerback Jalen Ramsey and safety Jordan Fuller.
Fuller admitted during Thursday’s press conference that they will face their toughest test of the season against the Buccaneers. The safety said Brady is considered the greatest of all time and “knows the game inside out”, according to the Rams official website. Evans will also be tested by Ramsey, who limited Seattle Seahawks wide receiver DK Metcalf to just two catches for 28 yards in their 23-16 win in Week 10.
Earlier, Rams defensive coordinator Brandon Staley admitted that facing Brady is stressful and a great challenge, based on his experience as outside linebackers coach for the Chicago Bears in 2018.
Majority of experts pick Bucs
The Buccaneers are a 3.5-point favorite heading into their MNF clash with the Rams but the opinion of experts varies when it comes to the result, according to a report on the Buccaneers’ official website. According to Greg Rosenthal of NFL.com, he expects the Buccaneers to prevail via a score of 26-21 via their superior running game behind Ronald Jones. Eight of 10 ESPN experts selected the Buccaneers while Michael David Smith and Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk/NBC Sports each picked Tampa Bay and Los Angeles. Four of the seven experts from USA Today and six of 10 experts from SB Nation selected the Buccaneers. Eight experts from CBS Sports are split on the Buccaneers and Rams.