Tuesday, 4 a.m.
- Some judge a quarterback by touchdown passes. Some judge him by his quarterback rating. I've always been a sucker for fourth-quarter comebacks, because the best excel at that. Tom Brady had his 43rd, and his 55th game-winning drive, on Sunday. In a fourth-quarter league, it's not a small number.
2. By comparison, Aaron Rodgers is 34th on the list. George Blanda, who also played a long time (mostly as a kicker) is tied for 52nd.
3. Yes, the Bucs won a great comeback on Sunday. That doesn't mean they've found the light switch to offset a dark season. But it beats losing.
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4. If Mike Evans does reach the Hall of Fame, let's hope he doesn't drop his invitation.
5. Pro football is a game of inches...especially when Leonard Fournette has the ball.
5 Comments
(From Todd Bowles day-after press conference)
(On the defense getting a stop and giving the offense a chance to win the game): “That was big. It gave us some time on the clock and not giving [the Rams] a first down, so giving [Tom Brady and the offense] 44 seconds turned out to be more than enough. Just to give them the ball back and give them a chance was big. So, the last two drives – them getting off the field helped out a lot.”
(On having cornerbacks Carlton Davis III and Sean Murphy-Bunting back in the lineup): “I thought they played physical. Going into the game, it was a big emphasis on not having yards after catch or the jet-sweeps getting out there and getting some yardage and I thought all three corners played very physical and did a good job.”
(On the decision not to challenge the spot of the ball after P Jake Camarda’s punt appeared to hit at the 1-yard-line): “Well, the ref came over and told me that they couldn’t tell, and they watched the replay and couldn’t tell. They weren’t going to change it, so there was no need to challenge it.”
(On what is preventing explosive plays on offense): “You’ve got to run the ball better. If you don’t suck them up to throw over their head, they’re going to stay back all day long. And if they stay back all day long when you are running the ball, then you’ve got to take what they give you. And… we’re trying to take what they give us right now, and they’re not allowing us to get those plays over the top, but we’ve got to keep working at it. [It] doesn’t mean we’re not trying to get them, just means they’re back deep enough to where we can’t get them. So, we just don’t want to throw it over there just to throw it over there.”
(On reports that RB Leonard Fournette was ‘sulking’ on the sideline): “I didn’t see or hear anything about that."
Game Balls
Offense: Tom Brady. Who else? Brady moved the ball 60 yards in 35 seconds with no time outs to win the game. As he said, awesome.
Defense: Vita Vea hasn't had the best season, but he was a beast on Sunday with two sacks.
Special teams: Jake Camarda averaged a staggering 59.5 yards on his six punts, and four were pinned inside the 20. It would have been five if the Bucs had challenged a bad spot.
Grades
Quarterback: The interior pass rush certainly hurried Brady throughout the game, but he was there in the clutch. Grade: A-.
Running backs: Every time the Bucs run, it seems like a horrible idea. Grade: F-.
Offensive line: They could not contend with Aaron Donald. Grade: F.
Defensive line: Vea was the star, but the Rams only got 2.8 yards per rush. Grade: A.
Linebackers: Not great tackle numbers for a change. Grade: B.
Secondary: Cooper Kupp. Good player. Right? Grade: C.
Special teams: Camarda was a star, but Ryan Succop was good, too. Grade: A.
Power Rankings
- Philadelphia 8-0
2. Kansas City 6-2
3. Buffalo 6-2
4 Minnesota 7-1
5. Miami 6-3
16. Tampa Bay
Bottom 5
32. Houston 1-6-1
31. Las Vegas 2-6
30. Pittsburgh 2-6
29. Carolina 2=7
28. Detroit 2-7
NFL Passing Yards
(Including playoffs)
Rank Player Yards
1. Tom Brady 100,116
2. Drew Brees 85,724
3. Peyton Manning 79,279
4. Brett Favre 77,693
5. Ben Roethlisberger 70,060
Comeback Kings
(Fourth-Quarter Comebacks
- Tom Brady 43
2. Peyton Manning 43
3. Ben Roethlisberger 41
4. Matt Ryan 37
5. Drew Brees 36
Game-Winng Drives
Rank Player Games
- Tom Brady. 55
2. Peyton Manning 54
3t. Drew Brees 53
3t. Ben Roethlisberger 53
5. Dan Marino 47
Rookie Tight End Ranking
Player Drafted Catches-Yards
Trey McBride 23 3-24
Jelani Woods 73 7-71
Greg Dulcich 80 12-182
Jeremy Ruckert 101 0-0
Cade Otton 106 23-246
Daniel Bellinger 112 16-152
NFL Stats
Passing Yards Tom Brady 2
Rushing Yards Leonard Fournette 27
Receiving Yards Mike Evans 14
Tackles Devin White 21
Punting Jake Camarda 14
5 More Thoughts
- Here's a question. If Leonard Fournette gets 999 more carries this year, will he get 1,000 yards?
2. If you weren't impressed with Camarda, try this stat on for style. Camarda averaged 59.5 yards per punt Sunday. Ray Guy, the Hall of Famer who passed away last week, averaged 42.4 over his career.
3. As of today, Brady still ranks fifth on the Bucs' passing yardage figures behind Jameis Winston, Vinny Testaverde, Josh Freeman, Trent Dilfer and Doug Williams. Of course, he's played 2/3 the games of most of them.
4. Maybe it's just me, but you should send Ryan Jensen a get-well card ar your earliest convenience.
5. Even the German fans will think the Bucs blitz too much.