Why has Tom Brady struggled against WFT and Saints since becoming a Buccaneer?
Tom Brady and the Buccaneers dropped the ball this week when they were seemingly beaten on both sides of the ball by the Washington Football Team. It's a strange occurrence considering the WFT is not necessarily a playoff-caliber team.
Losing to the Saints isn't exactly in the same light as they are in the hunt for a playoff spot. This begs the question of how and why Brady has struggled against both teams.
The answer is simple: a strong defensive front seven. It has long been known that Brady doesn't respond well when he is pressured. Both the Saints and WFT have very physical defensive fronts.
Is constant pressure the way to beat Tom Brady?
The WFT has one of the strongest defensive fronts in all of football, and that was on full display during the game when Brady was constantly under pressure and had to let the ball go as soon as possible.
Brady isn't the only quarterback that struggles under pressure. That's generally all quarterbacks who happen to deal with constant pressure. The one true way to make a quarterback commit mistakes is to be in their face. That is always the case when it comes to the game of football.
Brady is just that quarterback that begins to snowball into mistakes once he doesn't have time to sit in the pocket. The WFT has one of the scariest pash rushers in the game, Chase Young. Even with Young going down in the 3rd quarter, he was still a force the entire game.
In Week 8, the Saints were able to log three sacks and four quarterback hits. That was enough to cause Brady to throw two interceptions. Once Brady begins to make mistakes, they seem to keep spiraling out of his control.
Today's game had the same result. The WFT didn't log any sacks or quarterback hits, but they were constantly in the face of Brady, which led to two costly interceptions.
The secret to beating Brady is to limit his time to sling the ball. Brady is one for letting go of the ball semi-quickly, but he needs the protection of the offensive line to give him those extra moments. Without time to think and read his options, he begins to panic and makes mistakes.
The obvious nature of getting to the quarterback is part of every defense's plan, but when it comes to Brady, he folds under constant pressure. Get through with a good pass rush and anyone can take down the "G.O.A.T."