The Tampa Bay Buccaneers suffered their back-to-back losses for the first time this season with Tom Brady as quarterback. On Sunday November 29th, the Buccaneers lost another close game, this time to the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, 27-24, at Raymond James Stadium. The 43-year-old Brady completed 27 of 41 passes for 345 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions as the Buccaneers slipped to 7-5. Following the tough loss, Brady paid tribute to his teammates and fired up the Buccaneers on social media via a series of Instagram stories, as noticed by Twitter user Patriots Loyal Fan.
Tom Brady's Instagram stories now... pic.twitter.com/OW3WPZ3t0u
— @patriotsloyalfan (@patriotsloyalf1) November 30, 2020
Brady pays credit to teammates
Brady posted a collaged photo of center Ryan Jensen and wide receivers Mike Evans and Scotty Miller with the word “teamwork” on it. He followed it with photos of running back Ronald Jones Jr., tight end Rob Gronkowski and kicker Ryan Succop with the work “determination.” He put the word “perseverance” together with his photo alongside the pictures of linebacker Lavonte David and cornerback Carlton Davis. He ended his Instagram story with a Buccaneers uniform with the “LFG” caption. Against the Chiefs, Evans caught three passes for 50 yards and two touchdowns while Gronkowski had six catches for 106 yards.
Jones, for his part, carried the ball nine times for 66 yards and added a 37-yard touchdown reception while Chris Godwin caught eight passes for 97 yards.
Orlovsky slams Arians for wasting Brady’s talent
Several analysts have criticized Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians for his failure to provide ample protection to Brady and to call plays that fit his ability. Arians was also criticized for calling out Brady’s mistakes following their losses to the New Orleans Saints and the Los Angeles Rams.
Add former NFL quarterback and current NFL Dan Orlovsky to the list of Arians’ critics as he slammed the veteran head coach for his failure to maximize Brady’s talent. In Monday’s episode of ESPN’s “Get Up”, Orlovsky said Arians’ refusal to use more play-action is crushing Brady and the Buccaneers. Orlovsky said the Buccaneers offense is a walking definition of insanity as it “does the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
“The lack of play-action pass is something I’ve talked about for six weeks with this offense,” Orlovsky stressed, per a report by Steve DelVecchio of Larry Brown Sports.
According to Orlovsky, Brady is the second-ranked quarterback in the NFL in terms of play-action passing so Arians must capitalize on this style of play. “Right now Bruce Arians is wasting Tom Brady,” said Orlovsky, adding that Arians should use the veteran quarterback the right way. With Arians’ continued refusal to adjust to Brady’s style, Orlovsky said that the veteran head coach will bury the team. However, Arians clarified in a report by Luke Easterling of USA Today that Brady picks all the plays now.
Bayless criticizes defense
In Monday’s episode of “Undisputed”, co-host Skip Bayless again expressed displeasure on the Buccaneers’ defense, saying they have failed to live up to expectations again and should be blamed for the loss to the Chiefs. Bayless pointed out that the defense yielded 543 total yards to the Chiefs, including 269 receiving yards and three touchdowns to wide receiver Tyreek Hill.