Tom Brady, Buccaneers Have Only Themselves to Blame for Early Season Failures

When Tom Brady decided to un-retire and return to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for another season, the belief was that the Bucs would once again be one of the NFC's top teams in 2022.

In our first regular-season set of NFL Power Rankings here at Bleacher Report, the Buccaneers checked in at No. 3. Only the defending champion Rams were ranked higher among NFC teams.

Much like those Rams, though, the season hasn't gone anywhere near what most folks expected. The Tampa offense has sputtered much of the season, entering the week 21st in the league in both total offense and scoring offense.

And while the Buccaneers are still technically in first place in the NFC South, after getting blown out by the Carolina Panthers 21-3, it's become more and more evident that these Buccaneers have major problems—problems that threaten to derail their season.

And Tampa has only themselves to blame for their predicament.

Last year, Tom Brady led the NFL in both passing yards and touchdown passes. The Buccaneers piled up more yards and scored more points than every team in the league except the Dallas Cowboys. Tampa's offense was more prolific than the Kansas City Chiefs, the Buffalo Bills and the Super Bowl champion Rams.

What a difference a year makes.

Entering Week 7, the Buccaneers were averaging 332.0 yards per game and 20.2 points per contest—over 70 fewer yards and almost 10 points off last's year pace. The offensive struggles have left Brady visibly frustrated at times, including a sideline tirade directed at his offensive linemen during last week's loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

While speaking to reporters ahead of this week's trip to Carolina, Brady defended that outburst, stating that it's all part of leading a team.

"Sometimes you have to annoy guys and try to raise the level, convey a sense of urgency to them; raise your voice and create a different vibe for the whole offense," he said.

"That's what I was trying to do. I'm a quarterback. I don't expect the right thing to be done by the tackle, the running back or the receiver. I'm going to do it myself. That's my job to try to get us going, and raising my voice sometimes is a positive encouragement."

If Brady was frustrated before, he has to be apoplectic now.

Sunday's matchup with the hapless Panthers was supposed to be a perfect "get-right" spot against arguably the worst team in the NFL.

Carolina is rolling out a third-string quarterback, just traded their best offensive player in Christian McCaffrey and has already fired its head coach. The Panthers came into Week 7 ranked dead last in total offense and 20th in total defense.

Not only did the Buccaneers not "get right," but Tampa was blown out.

The Buccaneers were a hot mess offensively against Carolina. As has been the case so often this season, the Bucs had no ground game to speak of, managing just 46 yards on 16 carries. Brady threw for 290 yards, but it took 49 pass attempts to get there.

Tampa converted just 2-of-12 third downs in the game and punted on its first five possessions (not counting the end of the half). And perhaps most embarrassingly, the Bucs were outgained by Carolina's league-worst offense.

After the loss, Brady admitted to reporters that things just aren't going well.

"No one feels good about where we're at," Brady said. "No one feels good about how we played or what we're doing. We're all in it together, and we have to pull ourselves out of it."

The loss dropped Tampa to 3-4, which puts Brady in some uncharted territory.

The problem is that there's no clear path to pulling out of it.

Granted, injuries at wide receiver hurt the team earlier in the season, but that wasn't the case Sunday. With the exception of Julio Jones, Brady had his full complement of receivers against the Cardinals.

At the risk of being tabbed a heretic, Brady looks little like the player that led the league in passing yards and touchdown passes last year. His completion percentage and yards per attempt are similar to 2021, but his passing yards per game are down over 35 yards, and after tossing 43 touchdowns in 2021, Brady has just eight in seven games in 2022.

In his defense, Brady isn't getting much help. After averaging 4.5 yards per carry last year, Leonard Fournette is averaging just 3.6 yards a pop this season.

In 2021, Pro Football Focus ranked Tampa's offensive line as the second-best unit in the NFL. This year that number has dropped to seventh, with rookie guard Luke Goedeke continuing to struggle.

Tampa's defense remains stout, but they aren't perfect. They can't be expected to shut down every opponent just because the Bucs offense can't score. And against Carolina, that defense finally cracked, allowing 173 yards on the ground.

The problems are all feeding into one another. Fournette is struggling in part because the offensive line has taken a step back. That forces Brady to press behind protection that isn't what it was. The offensive struggles are putting an untenable amount of pressure on the defense. Add it all together, and you have the recipe for a team that is 1-4 over its last five games.

There doesn't appear to be an easy fix to what ails the Buccaneers, either. The return of center Ryan Jensen will help the offensive line, but one guy coming back isn't going to magically fix an offense that is completely out of sync.

Tampa may well still be the best team in the NFC South, but it's becoming awfully hard to imagine this team beating the Philadelphia Eagles in the playoffs. Or the Dallas Cowboys. Or the San Francisco 49ers. Not after they couldn't beat the Panthers.

It sounds weird to call rolling out the greatest quarterback in NFL history a risk, but the reality is Brady is 45 years old. There was a chance that his play would decline and that he wouldn't be able to carry the Bucs on another deep playoff run after another offseason of roster attrition.

However, while it was always possible that the Buccaneers would backslide, it doesn't make it any less jarring to see it happen so suddenly. But happen it has.

And odds are good that things aren't going to get better from here.