Bruce Arians doesn’t like it when people criticize his quarterback — unless it’s his criticism, of course.
“I don’t know why anyone’s criticizing Tom,” the Buccaneers’ head coach told reporters on Wednesday. “What he did at the end of the half and to start the second half [against] Minnesota — very, very few teams can score 17 points in a matter of five or six minutes. If we finished the half with 17 points, I don’t [care] how we start. He’s not getting enough credit for what he’s doing.”
The Vikings jumped out to an early 6-0 lead in their Week 14 matchup. The Buccaneers stormed back with a vengeance and responded with 17 points in the final eight minutes of the second quarter by way of a 48-yard touchdown pass to Scotty Miller, a 1-yard Ronald Jones rushing touchdown and a field goal to end the half. Brady finished the game completing 15 of 23 attempts for two touchdowns and zero interceptions. The score ended 26-14, which would have been closer had Vikings kicker Dan Bailey not missed three field goals and an extra point.
Arians’ comments struck some as ironic in light of how publicly critical he has been, which has been viewed by some as a smokescreen for his own missteps. After the team’s Week 11 loss to the Rams, Arians pointed the finger at Brady’s play-calling and inaccuracies.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians and quarterback Tom Brady Getty Images“We have Tom calling a lot of his own [plays], or picking his own on the sidelines from the game plan,” he said, according to ESPN. “I don’t think it’s a confidence problem whatsoever. It’s not lack of trust — it’s lack of continuity within the offense, of the whole picture.”
Brady threw two interceptions in that contest and completed just 54 percent of his passes. The Buccaneers lost 27-24.
“We’ve got the guys open. We’ve just missed ’em,” Arians said. “I think he’s getting confused a few times with coverage that might be causing some inaccurate balls, but I don’t see it at all in practice. We’re not missing the deep ball in practice, that’s for sure, so it’s just a matter of, on Sundays, hitting ’em.”
For the most part, the six-time Super Bowl champion has taken the high road and accepted responsibility on his end.
“Any time you lose games, a lot of people want to place blame, especially in the media, and they want to pit one player against another player, or a player against a coach and so forth,” he said after the loss to the Chiefs. “That’s not been my style. … And I just think about it from a player’s standpoint. I always think about what I need to do better, and I certainly haven’t played to my level of expectation, and I’ve got to do a better job, and that’s what it comes down to for me.
“I’ve got a great relationship with B.A., and we talk every day. … I’ve got a lot of respect for him and how he runs the team and so forth.”
Despite Arians’ blame game, Brady, who joined the team via free agency during the offseason, is in the midst of a very strong season. The 43-year-old has thrown for 3,496 yards and 30 touchdowns (to 11 interceptions) and boasts a 64.8 completion percentage through 13 starts.
“Offensively, I think Tom has had a Pro Bowl year,” Arians said of Brady, who already has 14 Pro Bowl nominations and three first-team All-Pro nominations and has won three NFL MVP awards and four Super Bowl MVP awards.
At 8-5, the Buccaneers sit in second place in the NFC South behind the Saints (10-3) and in position for the second NFC wild-card spot. They face the Falcons (4-9) in Atlanta in a divisional clash on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
