Dhat Tom Brady has shown so far this season in the National Football League (NFL) has been average at best. Error-prone, rarely pressure-resistant and unusually often imprecise in implementation.
He is currently playing his 23rd season in the world’s top football league with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, at the age of 45. He has been the most successful player in his sport to date for a long time, but because Brady is one for whom nothing is ever enough, he decided almost a year ago to add another season after the end of his career, which was actually planned (and probably also ended his marriage with the Brazilian Gisele Bundchen at stake).
Did Tom Brady gamble?
There seemed to be a lot to suggest that Brady might have gambled his plan to add even more to his legacy in the American football world with a possible eighth Super Bowl win beyond what he had already achieved represents a record that – if at all – will not be broken any time soon in the highly competitive NFL. Is this the end of the league for perhaps the best quarterback player? Perished without a word in mediocrity, arrived in, well, average?
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Bild: Picture-Alliance
Brady isn’t saying goodbye to the NFL just yet, nor is he consistently playing average. Both have to do with one of his teammates: Mike Evans. Evans, 29, one of the league’s top wide receivers, has been a key contributor to Brady’s success with Tampa Bay in recent years and was also one of the reasons the Brady-led Buccaneers just didn’t do it this year made a “click”.
Evans scored 13 touchdowns in the championship season two years ago, compared to 14 last season. As of last Sunday, Tampa’s most important pass recipient, Brady’s, had brought it to just three. And that despite being played 119 times by his quarterback.
Shake off opponents, catch the ball safely and – if possible – score a touchdown: These are the tasks of Mike Evans (left) with the Buccaneers.
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Image: dpa
There can be many reasons for such a disproportion, in general, a successful passing game in the NFL depends on numerous factors: the running paths, which must be dynamic and yet precise to the centimeter, the timing of throwing and catching movements, the adjustment of the im Advance announced moves on the opponent’s defense. In short: The chemistry must be right between quarterback and receiver, and the chemistry between Brady and Evans seemed to be maximally disturbed this year.
Both players and their coach are silent about the reasons, and everyone at the Buccaneers denies that this is the case. But the numbers are clear: Evans has been thrown on more often this season than in previous seasons – one game is still to come. Countable things, however, rarely came about. Both short- and long-distance passes didn’t come through, either because Brady didn’t throw accurately enough or Evans didn’t complete his running routes with the necessary precision or assertiveness.
Until now.
Can look forward to the playoffs: Tom Brady
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Bild: USA TODAY Sports
Last Sunday, Brady and Evans managed what was possibly the best game of the season. Evans was thrown 12 times, ten of those passes were successful, and he gained a total of more than 200 yards (about 183 meters). These are top values. With three touchdowns, Evans was also primarily responsible for the 30:24 victory over the Carolina Panthers, which also meant entry into the playoffs for the Buccaneers. After what has been a mixed season at best, Brady and his team have a chance to crown this season with a Super Bowl triumph again.
“Mike played outstandingly today. I’ve missed him too many times this season. It was nice that the teamwork worked better now,” Brady said of the chemistry that has apparently been rediscovered between him and his receiver, which is so important for the success of the whole team. Both are to some extent dependent on each other and can push each other to peak performance. The fact that Evans was his old self again helped Brady to find himself again. And to make “the best game I’ve ever seen Tom play here,” according to Evans.
Now one should not overestimate this success, which is at best an interim success on the way to the title. But it shows how fine the line is between average and much above in the NFL – and how a team can manage to be on the right side at the final whistle. Brady, Evans and the Buccaneers have plenty of room for improvement, but not least the protagonists are certain that the foundation stone for this year’s success has been laid. “I hope it goes the same way,” Brady said on Sunday about himself and Evans. Before he paused. And then added, “I think it will.”
