Great Lombardi Article on Brady/Arians Rift (subscription required)

[Jerome007]

Don't make me or anyone of us defend Brady, we're Bills fans ha ha. But that you like his overinflated ego or not, HE has won 6 SB and been to 9. Arians? The coach has openly criticized Brady like if he were a rookie. Ego seems as much an issue with Ariens, but he has not the same aura, period. And while he is the HC, he seems to abuse this to criticize the star QB while being a HC makes him immune from open player criticism.

 

I recall a story, I don't remember who, of a QB going to the coach's office and tell him he should not openly yell at him in front of the other players as it makes him lose his leadership status. And that coach didn't after. Ariens even goes to the media to do so. WTH.

 

Besides, they can lose'em all from now on ha ha. I'm no Bucs fan. I actually respect Brady in a lot of ways, but not him, pouting, yelling at teammates, never shaking hands after a loss, etc. I just wished the Bills would have beat him while with  the Cheats. Now I care a lot less. Except to appreciate OUR coaching staff. 

[dave mcbride]

1 hour ago, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

Agreed that both guys are moving to the middle. But (at least Lombardi thinks that ...) there are certain parts of how they each work that they can't surrender on, that can't be compromised, and that these incongruent world views won't allow them to work together successfully.

 

I think he's got an interesting point. Maybe they can work it out. But maybe not.

I think that Arians knows how to build a team that can score points, but he also adheres to a philosophy that leads to blowouts vs. good teams. That tends to preclude championships. In the four playoff games he's coached (one in Indy and 3 in AZ), his QBs have thrown 5 TDs and 9 picks, and their collective QB rating is 60.7. In the one game he won - AZ over GB in OT (a fluky game)  - Palmer played badly in regulation and then got a little lucky when Fitzgerald took a dumpoff pass 75 yards on the first play of OT.   Granted, he did a lot in Pittsburgh, and the team got to the SB twice when he was the OC (winning once). However, when he was OC at Pitt, the team ran the ball a LOT more than now (measured by rushing attempts rankings). Since he went to AZ, they finished 20 or higher most seasons in terms of rushing attempts, and they are 29th this season. 

[WotAGuy]

5 hours ago, Rochesterfan said:

 

I think they blame Arians for the sequence of plays called not  the result of the calls.

 

In NE - the calls right after the 2 minute warning would have gone run/short pass (like the 1 yarder to Brown) to get the clock moving.  That forces the Rams to decide on a strategy call a time out or not.  That then sets up the rest of that drive.  If the Rams call timeout - then NE gets more aggressive and if they let the clock run down then NE will slow play until you get under a minute.

 

NE would attack, but most plays would be shorter, high percentage plays to keep the clock moving until it gets under a minute where then you start to attack mid level and sidelines.

 

Arians attacked down the field with a low percentage throw for Brady and put them behind the sticks.  One thing Brady has struggled with (just like most other QBs) is when you get behind the sticks (2nd and 3rd and long) and you get pressure it makes it harder to be successful.  That first down deep pass made it harder for Brady to get the First Down and stopped the clock.

 

In the end Brady did not execute the plays, but the choice of plays did not fit the wheelhouse (or the philosophy) of Brady.

“In the end Brady did not execute the plays.”

Thank you. 

[WotAGuy]

5 hours ago, Thurman#1 said:

 

 

That whooshing sound? It was the point shooting by while you were typing.

Brady didn’t execute the plays, period.  You can second guess the calls all you want and make up all kinds of make believe scenarios, but the point is Brady didn’t execute a successful play or drive. 

[H2o]

I don't think Brady fit the Arians' mold of a QB even from the beginning, but he sure would sell a lot of tickets (oops!!!) and merchandise. They both have an ego big enough for an entire locker room. They were bound to butt heads imo. The thought that Brady would have the greatest supporting weapons he's had in ages though made that an afterthought. Tom is still trying to go about things "The Patriot Way" and Arians mantra is his way or the highway. We'll see how it plays out over the next 14 months or so. 

Edited December 2, 2020 by H2o

[oldmanfan]

I never thought I'd live to see the day that the words Great Article and Lombardi would appear in the same sentence.

[WideNine]

On 12/1/2020 at 7:10 PM, QLBillsFan said:

I wonder how many more media can continue to fawn over Tommy to gain the access he parses out sparingly. He apparently had options other than the Bucs. If he had philosophical differences with Arians he could have not taken the 25-30$M. Lombardi never had much good to say about the Bills at every turn. I would take his Tommy excuses with a grain of salt. 

 

Yeah, I am not a big fan of the Lombardi clan, but it is an interesting article.

 

He touches on it, but I think there is more to the fact that Brady for the past 3 years loses a lot of zip and accuracy on his balls as the season progresses. He makes more negative plays and leads more stalled drives. The Bucs have not leaned on their run either and are near the bottom of the league in both attempts and yards/game.

 

I think the recent performance skid that Brady has had is indicative of the law of diminishing returns, but he has a lot of pride and I expect a bounce-back game. It wont be sustainable unless Arians does more to lean on their rush and their defense to save Brady's arm.

 

The Bucs have a load of talent and could better use it. I do agree that he would be better served crafting game plans that allow Brady to manage the game instead of leaning on him to make splash plays.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 3, 2020 by WideNine

[spartacus]

9 hours ago, Freddie's Dead said:

Awfully hard to win without deflated footballs and tapes of another team's signals and plays.

not to mention not having someone in your headset during the play, telling you who is open & where to go with the throw

no wonder he throws picks that he didn't throw in NE

 

 

 

 

 

[corta765]

Goes both ways on Arians and Brady. Watching their games at times Brady is failing when it comes to making some plays and throws to the point I can't believe he has thrown the ball on some INTs because it was such a poor read. But Arians runs a vertical passing game and has not adjusted the scheme enough at times to help Brady either. I have thought adding AB was too much as they had plenty of good targets before hand and seemed to click fine. Tampa is really hard to read on where they will finish because the potential is there to be in the SB and the potential is there that they could flame out at 9-7 and miss the playoffs.