Tom Brady missed Bill Belichick's guidance vs Rams; former Patriots executive explains why
Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' hopes of winning a second successive Super Bowl ended after their 30-27 NFC Divisional Round loss to the Los Angeles Rams last Sunday.
A 30-yard field goal from Matt Gay sent the Buccaneers out of the playoffs, but it was a huge play from wide receiver Cooper Kupp that set up the win. In what was the longest play in the final minute of a post-season game since the 'Minneapolis Miracle', Matthew Stafford found Kupp for a 44-yard gain.
A former New England Patriots executive believes this would not have been possible under head coach Bill Belichick. Speaking on his The GM Shuffle podcast, Michael Lombardi explained why that play wouldn't have happened under Belichick.
"Every Friday of his career," Lombardi said, "Brady would go into a meeting and sit on the lower seat of the left side of the room and he would watch Belichick go through the ‘gotta have it’ players.
"And Belichick would spend time saying, ‘When they need to make a play, it’s Cooper Kupp. They need a third down, it’s Cooper Kupp. Where’s the ball going? It’s Cooper Kupp.
"So, for Brady to see that Cooper Kupp had 64 yards on the final drive when they gotta have it, he’s gotta be saying to himself, ‘This probably wouldn’t have been the case in New England.'"
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@RamsNFL AT THE 10 YARD LINE. WOW.
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Who knows if this would have been the case, but the information from Lombardi on how Brady and Belichick used to work in New England gives food for thought to the theory that this wouldn't have been allowed to happen.
After the game, Tampa Bay head coach Bruce Arians said it was an all-out blitz call that didn't get communicated to all the defenders as the reason for the blown coverage.
Bucs decided to blitz Matt Stafford and Bruce Arians said it wasn’t communicated to all the defensive players. Resulted in a coverage bust in Cooper Kupp and a 40 yard pass play. Arians said you can second guess that if you want.
What next for Tom Brady?
Was the Buccaneers' loss to the Rams the last time we saw the seven-time Super Bowl winner in the NFL? Possibly. The veteran quarterback spoke about his future when speaking after the game, stating that his relationship with his wife, Gisele Bundchen, and children is extremely important. He said:
"It pains her (Gisele) to see me get hit out there. And she deserves what she needs from me as a husband and my kids deserve what they need from me as a dad."
With the off-season fast approaching, TB12 will have a difficult decision to make in the coming weeks and months regarding his future as a quarterback in the NFL.