Tom Brady hasn’t looked like himself of late and he knows it.
The Patriots quarterback has thrown only one touchdown in his past three games and was borderline awful in New England’s 34-10 loss to the Tennessee Titans in Week 10. Brady went 21-for-41 for 254 yards while being sacked three times and hit six more times in the loss at Nissan Stadium.
The 41-year-old’s poor performance has a growing list of critics attacking the five-time Super Bowl champion, claiming he’s washed up, over the hill and has a noodle arm.
After winning the 2017Â NFL MVP award at age 40, Brady has been average through 10 games in 2018. A lot of that has to do with the pressure he’s been under due to an offensive line that has suffered a number of injuries. The Pats star has struggled against the blitz this season, posting an NFL-worst 59.6 passer rating while facing pressure. Brady was sacked on three of his nine dropbacks against the blitz versus Tennessee, completing just one pass for 6 yards when the Titans applied pressure.
Brady is aware that he needs to be better.
“Everything is different from one year to the next,” Brady said about his recent play in his Monday interview with Jim Gray on Westwood One. “I think you keep working at it the same way. Those things haven’t changed for me. I’m sure some of my statistics have changed. But I feel good out there. And I feel like do I want to play better? I absolutely want to play better. I want to play best as I possibly can for my team, and that’s what my job is to do. Certainly, yesterday was not a great performance. I got to go out there and play my very best these next six weeks to give our team the best chance. And that’s what I want to do. That’s what I’m going to focus on these next two weeks. We got another road test. Another opportunity to go up against the Jets, a division rival in two weeks, and we got to have our best road game of the year, and that’s what I’m expecting from us.”
The Patriots’ offense rarely has been at full strength this season, with Julian Edelman missing the first four games due to a suspension and Rob Gronkowski sitting out two of the past three games with back and ankle ailments. While a fully functional supporting cast might be able to help Brady steady the ship, the veteran quarterback needs to be sharper overall.
Through 10 games, Brady has thrown for 2,748 yards, 17 touchdowns and seven interceptions, while averaging 7.4 yards per pass attempt, completing 65.2 percent of his passes and compiling a 94.7 passer rating. Brady, at this rate, is on pace for his worst statistical season since 2013, when he threw for 4,343 yards with 25 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while compiling a passer rating of 87.3.
Of course, it wouldn’t shock anyone if Brady came out of New England’s Week 11 bye like a man possessed and torched the Pats’ remaining six opponents.
