Getty The Bucs could sign Tom Brady to a contract extension.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians was candid in his assessment of Tom Brady’s two critical interceptions against the Los Angeles Rams. Arians cited Brady getting hit on one interception but admitted the Bucs quarterback misread the coverage on the pick that sealed a victory for the Rams.
“The first one he got hit,” Arians explained in his post-game press conference. “He got hit. It looked like he had Chris [Godwin] going right down the middle. [He] stepped up and just didn’t get enough on it with the pressure. The last one was just a misread of the coverage.”
Brady had an opportunity to lead the Buccaneers on a game-winning touchdown drive but instead, things ended quickly with an interception. The Bucs continued their struggles in primetime, especially on offense which never seemed to find a consistent rhythm against the Rams. Arians had hoped changing up practice times along with other adjustments would help the team turn things around under the lights, but the team continued its primetime woes.
Arians on Fournette’s Drops: ‘A Couple of Them Were Not Very Good Throws’
Arians was also asked about the drops from Leonard Fournette and Ronald Jones. The Buccaneers coach put the blame mostly on Brady noting, “a couple of them were not very good throws, either.”
The good news for the Buccaneers is that their primetime games are over, at least for the regular season. The challenge is there is a good chance the Buccaneers will play in primetime if they are able to make the postseason. This was the Bucs’ final opportunity to gain confidence by ending their primetime slump before the playoffs.
Arians Backed Bucs Offensive Coordinator Byron Leftwich
Arians squashed any notion that he would take over play-calling duties from offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich. The Buccaneers head coach was complimentary of Leftwich’s decisions but was critical of Brady missing open receivers along with the offensive line.
“I thought he called a good ballgame,” Arians added. “We just got to execute better. When guys are open, we got to hit them. We can’t misread coverage. We have to protect a little bit better when we do have guys deep and let him hit that guy instead of having that pressure that cost us an interception. Just, as a collective, everybody’s got to play better.”
After the game, Brady echoed his head coach’s comments admitting he needs to do a better job. Brady described his final interception as a “bad read, bad throw.”
“Just a bad read, bad throw, decision, everything,” Brady said of his final interception. “It can’t happen.”
Brady also struggled to connect with his receivers on deep passes, and the quarterback noted he needs to study what went wrong against the Rams. He credited his receivers for doing a “great job” and emphasized his desire to get them the ball. Brady threw for 216 yards, two interceptions and two touchdowns while completing just 52 percent of his passes.
“We’ll have to study it,” Brady noted on the deep passes. “Again, we’ve had some chances, definitely. Receivers are doing a great job, and I got to get them the ball. So, I got to figure out how to do that.
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