Bruce Arians Throws Tom Brady Under the Bus Again After Loss to Rams

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians has never been one to mince words. While some coaches may tighten up around someone as accomplished as Tom Brady, Arians has never been afraid to air things out in the media.

He's criticized the six-time Super Bowl champ publicly on multiple occasions now. And after Brady's disastrous Week 11 performance on Monday Night Football, Arians once again refused to bite his tongue.

Arians: "When guys are open we gotta hit 'em, and we can't misread coverage."

Went on to say that the line has to protect better when guys are running deep. But also...

When guys are open we gotta hit 'em, and we can't misread coverage.
— Michael Hurley (@michaelFhurley) November 24, 2020

That's a pretty damning indictment of Brady's play. But to Arians' credit, it's hard to disagree with him. Tampa Bay struggled to move the ball all game, albeit against the NFL's best passing defense, but Brady's 2 interceptions were indefensible.

Both picks came on passes that had absolutely no chance of being completed. It looked more like Brady was targeting a Rams' defender than a Buccaneers' receiver in both instances.

Bruce Arians: "I felt very, very comfortable in the two-minute drive...until that throw."
— Joey Knight (@TBTimes_Bulls) November 24, 2020

Arians' approach is also a stark contrast to how Bill Belichick dealt with Brady. That's not to say Belichick never criticized him (he did, frequently), but it always came behind closed doors. Belichick would usually offer nothing of substance to the media, usually opting to just take the bullet himself.

Still, the approach has generally seemed to work. Brady's best games of the season have tended to follow his worst, like when he torched the Carolina Panthers in Week 10 after a terrible showing in Week 9.

Arians will have to hope these comments motivate Brady and the Buccaneers again in Week 12 when Tampa Bay faces the Super Bowl favorites in Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs.

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Max Staley is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Max Staley also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username mstaley1212. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.