Tom Brady ran for it.
Even in Brady’s prime, running was rarely a good idea. At 45, that just wasn’t happening. He was third-and-10 at the Baltimore 13-yard line Thursday night. The Buccaneers desperately needed a spark on offense. Brady didn’t have anyone open so he rolled left, then he started running. Three Ravens were above him when he got a yard infield.
This piece summed up the Brady 2022 experience. He looks like the same Brady, but he isn’t. Brady presumably believes he can do just about everything that made him great over the past two decades, but there are signs his game is slipping. He’s still amazing for a 45-year-old quarterback, but he’s still 45 and it shows sometimes. Brady is not the same quarterback he was in his prime or even last season. It had to happen eventually.
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The Buccaneers were again in tatters on offense Thursday night. The Buccaneers lost their third straight game, losing to the Baltimore Ravens 27-22. The scoreboard looked better for the Bucs when they scored a touchdown in the final minute. Prior to that, they had eight straight possessions without a touchdown. The Buccaneers fell to 3-5.
Brady has made 302 straight starts without a three-game losing streak, nearly doubling Joe Montana’s previous record of 155 per Amazon Prime Video streaming. His last three-game losing streak was in 2002, when Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson was 5 years old.
This season brings some firsts in Brady’s 23rd season. Many of these are not the milestones Brady was pursuing when he decided to end his brief retirement.
Ravens kick off after halftime
The Buccaneers and Ravens had an uneven first half. The Bucs scored on a Leonard Fournette touchdown, the first time this season they scored a touchdown in the first quarter. The Ravens were blocked on three runs, in part because they managed to take a field goal on a chip shot on fourth-and-second, but pitched incomplete on fourth down.
Another reason was that the Ravens were without some of their best offensive players. Mark Andrews suffered a shoulder injury early in the game and was sent off. Receiver Rashod Bateman left the game with an injury without catching a pass. The Ravens offense turned into Lamar Jackson just trying to shake things up with a small crew.
Jackson made it work in the second half. He found the Kenyan Drake for a short touchdown pass and a 10-10 draw. Then he hit rookie tight end Isaiah Likely, pressed for more playing time when Andrews went down with the injury, on a nice 10-yard touchdown from behind the end zone to give Baltimore a 17-yard lead. -10. A rushing touchdown from Devin Duvernay on a throw sweep put the Ravens ahead 24-13 and that lead felt secure.
Baltimore’s offense was on the field for most of the game. It’s because the Ravens want to play with a ball control style, and they do it well. It’s also because, after a strong start, the Buccaneers rarely sustained practices.
Buccaneers can’t answer
The Buccaneers finally got another touchdown in the fourth quarter on a long drive with about five minutes left. But Cade Otton’s score was called off due to a waiting penalty on left tackle Donovan Smith. When the Buccaneers picked up a few yards on third down to set up a fourth down and goal in the end zone, they had a false start pushing them back 5 yards. Tampa Bay settled for a field goal. This is how things are going for the Buccaneers.
Tampa Bay still had little hope after this field goal. He trailed 24-16. But Duvernay had a 33-yard kickoff return, Drake had a 40-yard run, and that was more than enough for Justin Tucker’s field goal range. The Buccaneers are struggling to score, and getting it twice in the final two minutes seemed impossible. Brady hit Julio Jones for a touchdown with 49 seconds left, but the Bucs failed to recover the kick in play.
There’s been a lot of talk about the Buccaneers’ injuries this season, but those excuses are dwindling. The Ravens lost key players like Andrews and Bateman on Thursday, but found a way. Injuries are no longer holding the Buccaneers back. They’re just not very good on offense, and maybe not very good overall.
Brady isn’t bad this season. He is not unrecognizable on the field, like Joe Namath at the end with the Rams or Johnny Unitas with the Chargers. He’s still a good solid quarterback. But the Buccaneers have gotten used to him being great, and they have to find ways to salvage their season with this version of Brady.
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