Sport

What is the point of this season for Tom Brady?

It’s now safe to declare the Tom Brady Era as we know it O-V-E-R

Tom Brady of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers leaves the field after their defeat to the Carolina Panthers. Photograph: Eakin Howard/Getty Images
Tom Brady of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers leaves the field after their defeat to the Carolina Panthers. Photograph: Eakin Howard/Getty Images
Melissa Jacobs
Mon Oct 24 2022 - 12:04

It was midway through the third quarter in Carolina on Sunday, with the Buccaneers trailing 14-0. At the peak of the Tom Brady Era, the deficit would have felt surmountable. After all, this was a matchup the oddsmakers almost considered a lock for Tampa Bay, listing them as 13.5-point favorites. This was the game for Brady and his offense to take out their anger on the lowly Panthers after losing to Pittsburgh last week. After all, in Carolina they were facing an interim head coach, former XFL quarterback PJ Walker, and a franchise which had just lost its best player.

But after yet another stunning loss, this one 21-3 and somehow worse than last week’s, it’s safe to declare the Tom Brady Era as we know it O-V-E-R. As Oliver Connolly pointed out in these pages last week, many of Tampa’s woes are not down to Brady. The wideouts continued to be a detriment on Sunday, starting with Mike Evans dropping what should have been a touchdown on the opening drive. According to ESPN Stats and Info, Evans had 10.9 yards of separation between himself and the nearest defender. It was the most wide-open drop on a pass traveling over 30 yards this season.

Then there’s the patchwork offensive line. Left tackle Donovan Smith, still nursing an elbow injury, got worked and was responsible for multiple false starts. Rookie guard Luke Goedeke was benched after a horrible performance.

The transition from Bruce Arians to Todd Bowles already feels tarnished, and offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich may want to avoid social media for a while after calling another disastrous game. The Panthers defence also deserves a boatload of credit. They were relentless throughout, even down to their third-string cornerback, who had to play due to injuries.

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But the “greatest of all time” should have figured out some cracks. He should have rallied his team at halftime. But they came out just as pulseless as they were in the first half. And Brady, for all of his age-defying exploits over the last few years, suddenly looks like a 45-year-old quarterback hanging on for one season too many. Many of his passes on Sunday lacked the kind of zip we saw from Brady in his early 40s, making him more prone to turnovers now.

The Bucs now sit at 3-4 with the Ravens and Rams on the horizon and almost no signs of life from Brady, his teammates and coaching staff.

Cue the obvious question: What is the point of this season for Brady?

With seven Super Bowl titles, pretty much every quarterback record worth having and enough money to make sure his grandchildren are wealthy it’s not like he needs to keep playing. He knew he wasn’t going to have some of the key offensive weapons. Antonio Brown was finally considered unreliable enough to go unsigned. Rob Gronkowski has retired. While the transition from Arians to Bowles should have been seamless, there was still going to be a new culture to learn. And the offensive line was always going to be a question. Brady has transcended these types of issues before but that was the Brady who gave every ounce of his being to propel his team. Last guy to leave, first to enter. The Brady of the Tom Brady Era as we know it didn’t take Wednesdays off. To be fair, Brady’s earned the right to do whatever the hell he wants, and he’s notoriously going through personal issues, but what’s the point of continuing to play if you’re going to miss a quarter of practices?

And there is the matter of the whole age thing. It’s not just that Brady wants to prove age is just a number for high-level athletes willing to make extreme lifestyles choices, it’s central to his TB12 brand. Maybe Brady believes himself invincible but there’s a clear pattern of elderly quarterbacks falling off a cliff. Why take the risk?

Drew Brees is the most recent example but Brett Favre’s body was basically disintegrating when he gave it one last year with Minnesota. Even Peyton Manning had 17 interceptions to just nine touchdowns in his final regular season. It still resulted in going out on top with a Super Bowl ring, thanks to one of the best defenses of our time. But Brady doesn’t have that luxury of that kind of supporting cast with these Bucs. He needs to be the rock of this team. Maybe he still is – and Tampa are not done quite yet in a weak NFC – but at the moment it’s not resulting in anything other than dysfunctional football.

In one of the numerous questionable play calls against the Panthers, Brady scrambled on a second and eight deep inside Carolina territory late in the third quarter. As Brady slowly clunked forward for a gain of a whole one-yard, TV analyst Jonathan Vilma neatly summed up the whole mess: “That ain’t it.”