Tom Brady’s Buccaneers debut wasn’t a total disaster, but it was far from stellar.
Brady completed 23 of 36 passes for 239 yards with two touchdowns in Tampa Bay’s road loss to the New Orleans Saints. But far more noteworthy was the 43-year-old’s pair of interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown.
The future Hall of Famer’s so-so performance drew fairly blunt remarks from his new head coach Bruce Arians. It also prompted a pretty unsurprising take from Max Kellerman.
“This says that without Bill Belichick there to give him the team success that masks his decline — he’s obviously in decline,” Kellerman said Monday on ESPN’s “First Take.” “Belichick, one — after Week 1 — Brady, zip. Belichick’s winning. That’s what this season is about for those two teams in a historical sense. When we look back at this, that’s what we’re going to be really evaluating. Is it Brady or Belichick?”
You can hear all of Kellerman’s thoughts on Brady’s Week 1 outing in the video below:
Sure, Brady made a few uncharacteristic mistakes against New Orleans, but it’s probably too early to be legitimately concerned about the Bucs. After all, Sunday’s game with Brady’s first with a team other than the New England Patriots, and it was against one of the leading Super Bowl LV contenders.
Brady was a part of several teams in New England that got off to slow starts before finding a groove. As of now, there’s no reason to believe Tampa Bay is incapable of following a similar path.
Thumbnail photo via Derick E. Hingle/USA TODAY Sports Images
