Ex-Falcons HC Mike Smith believes tough decisions lie ahead for Tom Brady's Buccaneers in 2023 (Exclusive)
Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' season came to an end with a limp loss against the Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card round. In their 31-14 defeat, they were comprehensively outplayed on both offense and defense. A season that started with Tom Brady returning from retirement to inject fresh impetus ended with a loss that was characteristic of their performances across the entire campaign.
The Buccaneers finished 8-9 in the regular season, handing Tom Brady his first losing season as a starting quarterback. It was a poor season, and those that had expected the 45-year-old to carry out his playoff magic as he has done over the years were left disillusioned.
Speaking exclusively to Sportskeeda's "The BallFather Podcast," former Falcons head coach Mike Smith was scathing about the nature of the defeat and Tampa Bay's inability to put up a fight.
He said:
"That was a beatdown. There was no doubt in my mind after the first quarter who is going to win that football game. There wasn't going to be a big comeback. It was a difficult day for Tampa Bay, it was uncharacteristic of Tom Brady and his offense, they really struggled."
He also brought up what the future holds for Brady, but said the blame lies with everyone in the organization. He singled out head coach Todd Bowles and offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich as people who might be in the firing line.
"That opens up now the Brady questions for what's going to happen in the future. It opens up questions about the head coach, the offensive coordinator, as so many people have been talking about it all throughout the year, even though they're in the playoffs in Tampa, this has been a failure of a season.
"It's not what they anticipated. It's not what they expected. And there's going to have to be some real heart-to-heart discussions within the organization about what they want to do moving forward."
Tom Brady and the Buccaneers seem to have reached the end of a journey
No one knows Tom Brady's future plans in the NFL, maybe not even himself at the moment. But even before the game, based on the season they had had, it seemed like a curtain call for the greatest quarterback of all time.
As previously covered on "The BallFather Podcast," many believed that the Cowboys game could be Brady's last for the Buccaneers and even possibly the NFL. The blowout loss might just be what pushes it to fruition.