8/19/2023 0 Comments Bucs patriots play by playIn those same three games, Brady completed 15/29 passes, then 26/33 and 16/29. In the last three games of the season, two of which registered as wins for the Patriots, Michel rushed for 89 yards, 96 yards, then 74 yards in each respective game. Ryan Izzo and Benjamin Watson played tight end, but neither was able to replicate the Gronk effect. So too was Damien Harris, but it was James White and Rex Burkhead and Sony Michel who played more prominent roles in the run game. Jakobi Meyers, the effective successor of Edelman, was an unestablished rookie at the time. Edelman was flanked by Phillip Dorsett, Josh Gordon and Demaryius Thomas. The Patriots wide receiver core, famous for making stars of overlooked players, relied on Julian Edelman and a few trades that didn’t pan out well enough. It was a bitter end to a season that fell apart bitterly in the colder months. The Patriots went on to the playoffs only to lose to the 9-7 Tennessee Titans in the Wild Card round, which saw Brady wrap up his New England career with an interception. The Patriots lost three of their five games that month, ending the regular season with an uncharacteristic loss to the 4-11 Miami Dolphins at home. That’s when the wheels began to fall off the Patriots campaign. The team finished the year atop the AFC East with a 12-4 record, boasting a league-leading defense that dubbed themselves “ The Boogeymen.” The team began the year with an 8-0 record for the third time in franchise history, entering the month of December with a 10-1 record. Looking at the schedule alone, it’s amusing that anyone would have panicked over the 2019 Patriots. Here’s where the two seasons overlap and where they differ, with the 2022 Bucs ideally hoping for a different outcome. Also, both of these teams have struggled mightily without the help of Rob Gronkowski, a key chess piece who made the pass and run function smoothly. The primary similarity is that in both instances, the chemistry with receivers is off and the teams lacked tight end help, making it a challenge to complete throws and run a productive offense. Similar though they are, there are distinctive differences between Brady’s last season with the Patriots and his current one with the Buccaneers. The numbers aren’t pretty, but neither is the fact that the problems are complex and interconnected, making it reductive to push the quarterback toward early retirement. The better question is this: Are we in 2022, or 2019?Īside from sharing the famous quarterback and the cachet that comes with it, both Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New England Patriots fans now have something else to bond over: a disappointing season with Brady at the helm. Where’s the quarterback who just led his team to a Super Bowl? The one who could seemingly make it work with any and every receiver? It’s not the same Brady on the field, and for some, the blame comes down hard on the forty-something quarterback. Tom Brady is shaking his head at another failed third-down conversion. In a few key ways, Tom Brady’s season with the Buccaneers resembles his final season with the Patriots.
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