Bucs Gameday

Film Room: Buccaneers' QB Tom Brady's Deep Ball Woes are No More

After struggling mightily with passes 20+ yards down the field, Brady has hit his stride at the perfect time ahead of the NFC Playoffs.

Donavon Keiser

"He's 43 years old."

"He's washed up."

"He can't throw deep anymore."

Just like that, remarks questioning Tom Brady's arm have been put to rest following his outstanding first-half performance in Detroit, where he tallied 348 passing yards and four touchdowns on 22 completions. 

On Saturday, Brady was off to a scorching hot start, completing his first four attempts at a pass longer than 20+ yards which included two touchdowns. As the first half went on, he attempted four more passes of 20+, completing two more, one of which was a touchdown. 

In total, Brady was 6-8 on his throws past 20 yards, accumulating 174 yards with three touchdowns. 

The once stagnant Bucs offense is finally coming together in its entirety, albeit in Week 16, to finally deliver on deep passes that have consistently held the Tampa Bay offense back this year. 

But now, just a few weeks removed from a drought of deep ball completions, Brady has found his groove at the perfect time as Tampa Bay has locked in a spot in the playoffs as an NFC wild card. 

As Jon Ledyard of PewterReport.com points out, Brady is 15-24 with 505 yards and six touchdowns on throws past 20 air yards since Week 11.

Throughout the matchup with the battered Lions secondary, Brady picked apart the 27th best passing defense in the league, moving the ball with ease with chunk plays that allowed Tampa Bay to score 34 points in the first half.

In his 300th career regular-season game, Brady proved that he still has all the tools to throw the deep ball with finesse, power, and strength. 

Film Breakdown

Looking at the first touchdown of the Lions game, it was evident that the Bucs wanted to pick apart the Lions and their man coverage. Despite being outmatched at every position in the passing game, the Lions still went out of their way to test Brady's deep ball with cover one and man coverage looks throughout the day.

Needless to say, it failed miserably. 

Getting to the play, Tampa comes out in a doubles set with two tight ends and two receivers as Chris Godwin and Mike Evans lined up on the left, and Cameron Brate and Rob Gronkowski lined up on the right. 

The Lions rush four and drop seven, as the Bucs send out five routes, including a dig, two-flats, a slant, and finally a vertical from Gronkowski. 

Picking on the size difference, Brady finds his go-to TE as he is matched up with 6'1, 210 pound Tracy Walker. After Gronkowski takes the inside corner away from the play, Walker guards Gronk down the sideline, which ends poorly as Brady throws a beautiful ball right to where only his guy could get it and Gronk fights for the pylon for a score. 

With head coach Bruce Arians and offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich using more pre-snap motion, they have made the game much easier on Brady, and it has paid off in recent weeks. 

To start, the Bucs come out in a 3x1 set with trips to the right, which is quickly changed when Godwin is motioned over to the boundary (short) side of the field. Godwin's man follows to the boundary side, hinting to Brady that it is man coverage. 

With only one high safety, the Bucs called a variation of four verticals, with the two outside guys running out and up routes, while the two inside receivers run straight verticals. With the outside pair running out and ups, it allows the field to be spread out, opening up enough room for the inside verticals to be open. 

To make the play even better, Brady holds the single-high safety with his eyes causing him to cheat towards Gronkowski's side, who Brady stared down before delivering a strike to Evans. 

Brady puts the ball on the money as Evans got just enough separation to get away from Lions cornerback Justin Coleman, resulting in an easy touchdown. 

Although Brady went through a time where he couldn't hit a deep ball to save his life, Arians and Leftwich still trust him to throw deep when it matters the most. Going back to last week, Brady and the Bucs were down three with six minutes left as they stormed back after being down 24-7 to the Falcons. When Tampa needed a score, they went to Antonio Brown. 

Can you guess the look? Another case of cover one. I'd seriously suggest stopping the cover one looks against Brady, especially when the Buccaneers' run game has been as inconsistent as it has been. 

Looking back to the offense, the Bucs come out in a 3x1 set again, this time with Brady under center. As Brady motions Godwin over, the Falcons secondary is confused as to who will take who. As the ball is snapped, it is clear that the assignment from the defense had not been determined, as it causes a touchdown as Tyler Hall (#44) takes the outside man, causing the in-breaking route from Godwin to be wide open. 

As Godwin crosses the field, Brown has two guys on him from the start of the snap, which quickly causes Kendall Sheffield (#20) already passed by Brown to go back to Godwin, which was not his assigned guy. Due to Godwin running down the middle of the field-free, the single high safety comes down to help out, as the corner is now out of the play completely.

From there it was a wrap, as Brown easily beats Hall on a go-route, resulting in a 46-yard touchdown. 

To note, each of these plays contained a relatively clean pocket for Brady to throw, as only four defenders were rushed, meaning the Bucs offensive line is doing their part. 

To reiterate, the use of pre-snap motion is vital because of plays like this. It is so much easier to know what you're facing going into the play rather than right at the start of one, and it is refreshing to see Tampa Bay use these concepts more as the playoffs approach. 

Despite all of the naysayers, Brady still has a perfectly useful deep ball within his repertoire to carry the Buccaneers on a deep playoff run. 

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Donavon Keiser
DONAVON KEISER

My name is Donavon Keiser, and I am currently a Sports Journalism student at the University of Florida, Class of 2023. I contribute to Sports Illustrated's AllBuccaneers, providing analysis and coverage of the Super Bowl LV Champs.