Tom Brady shows true leadership after loss to Chiefs
One of the most ironic aspects of football is that it's a game driven by ego and pride. But at the same time, keeping said ego and pride in check is crucial when it comes to consistently winning at a high level. Keeping both elements in check isn't easy, either. This is especially true after […]
One of the most ironic aspects of football is that it's a game driven by ego and pride. But at the same time, keeping said ego and pride in check is crucial when it comes to consistently winning at a high level.
Keeping both elements in check isn't easy, either. This is especially true after a tough loss. So, just imagine how players feel after a second consecutive loss that just so happened to be in front of millions on national television.
But Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady did just that on Sunday night after the Bucs' 41-31 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
On a night where head coach Todd Bowles took the heat and blamed the loss solely on the defense, his defense by the way, Brady tried to take as much blame off Bowles' shoulders as possible by placing it on his own.
"You know, we didn’t play great on offense – we didn’t help them very much either," Brady said after the game. "We didn’t do great in the first half – too many missed opportunities on third down, turnovers. So a tough game, tough team – a very good team – but you know, we’ve got to play a lot better if we want to beat good teams, so it hasn’t been our best yet this year.
"It’ll be good to see what it looks like when we do play our best.”
Brady didn't stop there.
"Because we didn’t do much on offense, we left our defense out there and it’s tough on our defense to let an offense have that kind of time of possession," he said later. We’ve all got to get back to work and do a better job.”
Brady certainly wasn't the issue Sunday night. He completed 75% of his passes and threw for 378-yards and three touchdowns while also throwing zero interceptions. He did lose a fumble when L'Jarius Sneed sacked him during a corner blitz, but it's hard to imagine many quarterbacks coming away completely unscathed in that situation.
Brady certainly wasn't the problem. And honestly, outside the running game, the offense wasn't really much of a problem, either.
That's not the picture Brady paints, though. He's not letting anyone take any bullets without taking some first, himself.
“I think a little bit better than the way we’ve been playing, but obviously not good enough, said Brady. "We’re here for one reason – not to move the ball or anything like that – we’re here to score more points than the other team."
The man is a seven-time Super Bowl champion and the greatest to ever play the game for a reason: He has an uncanny ability to weather any type of storm that comes his way and his teammates follow that.
They feed off it. And it's how his teams always seem to never be completely out of it.
And it's exactly why the Buccaneers are far from out of it in 2022.
Featured image via Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
