Watch Out, NFL—Brady and the Bucs are Back
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers passing offense has been this year’s sleeping giant. Injuries to both their offensive line and receiving corps gutted the offense of any chance to strengthen their rapport for most of the first half of the season. They never got the time to gel together or find what works and what doesn’t because many of the players they had to put on the field were never part of the Day 1 plan to begin with. That has finally changed, however. Sunday’s game against Seattle, with a much healthier roster, felt like the initial stirs of an awakening.
Tampa Bay’s offense was a force against the Seahawks. By DVOA, the Bucs had their second-best game as an offense and their best as a passing offense. They only scored 21 points, but a mind-numbingly stupid interception on a Wildcat pass from Leonard Fournette to Tom Brady more or less took points off the board, and it’s fair to assume they won’t make that mistake again. The Bucs offense was otherwise moving the ball up and down the field at Allianz Arena.
A few factors went into the Bucs’ passing surge, starting with the plays where they did not throw the ball. The Bucs running game finally looked competent against the Seahawks, a miracle compared to the league-worst running game they had until this point. It was their second-best game as a rushing offense by DVOA, in equal parts because the offensive line is healthier and because Rachaad White has quietly taken over the starting running back job from the plodding Fournette. The rushing production itself was nothing game-breaking, but it did finally lend itself to the Bucs having a complete offense and helped slow down Seattle’s pass rush, a much-needed relief for an interior offensive line that is still shaky week to week.
Perhaps more importantly, the Bucs’ big three receivers finally got to play consecutive weeks together for the first time all season. Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, and Julio Jones had all played in three games together before, but Weeks 9 and 10 marked the first time they had played together for consecutive weeks, an important factor as far as chemistry goes when playing for a quarterback as trust- and timing-driven as Brady.
The extra reps together, as well as all the added bonuses from the run game, led to a reinvigorated and aggressive Brady. Per Sports Info Solutions, Brady’s average depth of target was 8.5 yards on Sunday. That was the third-highest mark of his season and his highest since Week 2. For reference, Brady entered Week 10 with a 6.8-yard average depth of target, 29th out of 35 quarterbacks with at least 100 attempts. It was refreshing to see Brady comfortable and confident enough to hang in the pocket and make throws down the field again.
