Tom Brady has been showered with praise for leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to Super Bowl LV, and deservedly so.
But purely in terms of play on the field, Shannon Share wasn’t all that impressed with Brady’s latest potseason outing.
Sharpe on Monday gave Brady a rather harsh letter grade for his showing in the NFC Championship Game, which saw the veteran quarterback throw an equal amount of interceptions as touchdown passes against the Green Bay Packers.
“I gave him a D, which is passing,” Sharpe said on FS1’s “Undisputed.” “Yeah, I gave him a D because he played well in the first half. When I look at it, he played worse in the second half than he played good in the first half. The defense was outstanding. They gifted him a touchdown. They took the ball away from the Packers right away and gave him a short field. I think it was on the 8-yard line, one play and they’re in the end zone. And then they scored three points the rest of the way.
“…This is what Tom Brady’s numbers were in the second half: He was 7-of-14 with three interceptions. That’s what Tom Brady was in the second half. Brady is the only quarterback in the last 20 seasons to throw three interceptions in the second half and still win the ball game. That’s how rare what he did was.
“Even though he threw three interceptions, it really could have been five. The throw before the threw the touchdown to Scotty Miller — that ball should have been picked. That would have been No. 4. The one Chris Godwin caught down the middle of the field, there was no reason for him to throw that ball because that single high safety in the hole. Chris Godwin makes an unbelievable play on the ball. Give Chris Godwin credit.”
While Sharpe is arguing Brady’s interception count should have been higher against the Packers, one could also make the case it should have been lower. One of Brady’s picks bounced off the hands off Mike Evans, who also didn’t do his quarterback any favors on the other two interceptions.
Regardless, Brady probably isn’t very concerned about his stat line in the NFC Title Game. The Bucs walked out of Lambeau Field with a victory, and now they’ll compete for football’s most coveted hardware on their home turf.
