"Biggest bunch of baloney you've spewed" - Skip Bayless grills Shannon Sharpe for saying Tom Brady got outplayed against Rams
As Matt Gay's game-winning field goal sailed through the uprights to give the Los Angeles Rams a 30-27 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tom Brady bowed out of the NFL playoffs despite a second-half comeback.
After rallying his team from 27-3 down, including a 55-yard touchdown pass to Mike Evans, Brady sat on the bench and watched Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford complete a 44-yard strike to star receiver Cooper Kupp, setting up a chip-shot field goal.
The co-hosts of FS1's Undisputed, Shannon Sharpe and Skip Bayless, had very differing views on how the game unfolded. Sharpe was of the belief that Stafford completely outplayed the Buccaneers' signal-caller but Bayless vehemently disagreed. He responded:
"Now it is time for the truth of what happened yesterday because I saw a completely different game. Tom Brady very nearly pulled off the greatest comeback of his career under the circumstances because he was playing with one arm tied behind his back"
Bayless was very optimistic when speaking about the performance of the Pro Bowl quarterback during the game. He continued,
"He goes into the game without his right tackle Tristan Wirfs, and the backup is a 31 year old journeymen who's bounced around the league undrafted out of James Madison playing with a quad injury that turned into an ankle injury which forced the backup right guard, an undrafted, free agent rookie out of Rice to play right tackle for much of the second half. Are you kidding me?"
Bayless has been a supporter of the three-time NFL MVP for quite some time. He added the following,
"Let's go to receiver shall we? Obviously there's no Chris Godwin and there's no Antonio Brown, when they were healthy and eligible to play, they were the top two targeted receivers to go for Tom Brady.
After summarizing what happened to Tampa's other receivers, Bayless referred to the Buccaneers using backup tight end Cameron Brate as their slot receiver in the second half.
"Tyler Johnson was then forced into the slot. What happened to Tyler Johnson yesterday? He got his ribs cracked and played only about half the game. So the whole second half. They're having to use the backup tight end as their slot receiver in Cameron Brate and you're telling me Brady got outplayed?"
"Baloney, it's the biggest bunch of baloney you've ever spewed, Shannon Sharpe."
What next for Tom Brady?
When speaking to the media after the game, the future Hall of Fame quarterback was non-committal with regards to retirement and whether he would play next season.
From @gmfb: #Bucs QB Tom Brady may not retire. But this is as real as it's been. https://t.co/5fJV25Hd0q
The 44-year old, who turns 45 in August, is contracted for another year in Tampa but whether he returns or not, we will have to wait and see.
There is a chance that the complexity of the entire team may change as offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich and defensive coordinator Todd Bowles are candidates for several coaching jobs across the league.
If one or both of them are to leave, who knows if this will impact the All-Pro quarterback's decision of whether to retire or return.