The Buccaneers got everything they could from wide receiver Antonio Brown in less than two full seasons. He had a great half season in 2020 and another in 2021. But after his refusal to return to Sunday’s Week 17 game against the Jets and his subsequent immediate release, his time with Tampa Bay came to an end in less than a second. . playoff race.
Brown looked fine on the field when he was healthy, but from his ankle injury to his vaccination card-related suspension and his final in-game collapse topless, his stint with the Bucs went from constant to tumultuous in a year. .
Brown probably never would have been a Buccaneer had it not been for Tom Brady, the quarterback who also gave him his third chance with the Patriots. Although coach Bruce Arians finally had enough of Brown’s antics Sunday, the bottom line is that cutting ties with Brown comes at an inopportune time.
The Buccaneers have lost wide receiver Chris Godwin (knee) this season. Wide receiver Mike Evans (hamstring) plays injured. Running back Leonard Fournette (hamstring), who has also become a key target for Brady, may be back for the playoffs, but for now he’s on injured reserve.
Here’s what the break means for Tampa Bay’s quest for a second straight Super Bowl win with Brady:
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Tom Brady will have to rely much more on younger wide receivers
As Brown made his dramatic exit from the team, the Buccaneers lost two touchdowns en route to the Jets, 24-10 in the second half, during the latter’s great offense. Brady had tight end Rob Gronkowski as his best target with Evans paralyzed and on a quick count. But he couldn’t complete one of his proprietary comebacks without more help.
Brady delved into the depth chart to make better use of promising sophomore Tyler Johnson (5 receptions, 50 yards) and an undrafted official turned practice squad promoted player Cyril Grayson (6 receptions, 81 yards, game-winning TD). Scotty Miller, often one of Brady’s favorites last season, has seen limited snapshots lately, but that may need to change without Brown.
Without Godwin and more of a hampered Evans, Gronkowski also has the support of veterans tight end Cameron Brate and wide receiver Breshad Perriman. With Fournette or Giovani Bernard unavailable, second-year running back Ke’Shawn Vaughn and Le’Veon Bell are Brady’s best receivers at the moment.
Johnson and Grayson undoubtedly earned more confidence from Brady in the winning series. Vaughn is getting used to getting a lot more involved. Miller has filled the role of Brown’s big play # 3 before, including in last season’s playoffs.
The reason the Bucs got Brown last season was to improve depth and safety, as well as to give them three hard receivers for any defense to cover in Evans, Godwin and Brown. Brady needs to help Johnson and Grayson grow in confidence so they can continue to be key parts of the passing game.
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A committee to supplement the deep threat of Mike Evans
Evans, when healthy, is a great target with great vertical velocity, he’s as adept at hitting home runs as he is to win with his receiving radius in the red zone. Evans, Grayson, Johnson, Perriman and Gronkowski all had receptions of more than 20 yards against the Jets when Brady needed to throw for 410 yards and 3 TDs to win.
Now the group will have to prove it against playoff-caliber defenses far more challenging than the Jets’ secondary. Godwin was the glue guy with his slots job in between; Brady must adapt to finding a variety of boom and bust targets on and off to stretch the field. The Bucs will continue to be aggressive downfield with Brady attacking for Arians and Byron Leftwich and they need more players to get involved catching deep balls, often out of game action.
The Buccaneers will need to be effective running the ball again in the playoffs.
The Buccaneers got the “Playoff Lenny” version of Fournette to pass all four of their games through Super Bowl 55. That led Fournette into the 2021 regular season. Tampa Bay has been hit hard by injuries, but the offensive line is holding firm. . The Bucs hope to get Fournette back for the NFC tournament, but if not, they should commit, depending on the situation, to putting the ball in the hands of Ronald Jones, Vaughn and Bell.
If the Bucs can’t show they can still stretch the field with multiple receivers without Brown, it will be more difficult to run the ball. But again, committing to a look of balance will also open up favorable shots down the field. Brady used a good opponent-based pass and run combination to guide the Bucs well into the 2020 playoffs. That won’t change even with him taking the personal blows of losing Godwin and Brown. You just need to be more insightful when it comes to finding favorable matchups because it’s not that easy to plan for the youth opening.
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Buccaneers need to be as healthy as possible on defense in a hurry
The Buccaneers, even with Brady and his explosive offense, ultimately won Super Bowl 55 because of what they did on defense against Washington, New Orleans, Green Bay and Kansas City in back-to-back games. This season, they have been strong up front with Ndamukong Suh and Vita Vea, but the injury mistake has bitten other levels of their defense hard.
The secondary was the main concern earlier in the season, as they were exhausted as a defensive back. Now the Buccaneers are healthy there, save for Richard Sherman (Achilles). They’ve traded that for linebacker injury issues, where inside man Devin White was their only standing starter for the Jets game, a big reason the Jets were able to move the ball so well. While outside edge running backs Shaquil Barrett (knee) and Jason Pierre-Paul (knee) were ruled out for Week 17, inside leader Lavonte David (foot) is on injured reserve.
Like Fournette, David could come back to help in the playoffs, and Barrett and JPP are too. First-round rookie Joe Tryon-Shoyinka replaced Barrett and JPP well in an expanded role in Week 17, making a late-game save play. But the Bucs’ best second-tier quartet was the backbone of their Super Bowl career. Brady and the offense could benefit from a lower load to produce big point totals and could be facilitated by short fields in take-out shots.
Between now and the wild card game at home in two weeks, the goal is to get all the regular starters back together. There is a good chance of that happening.
The Bucs will lose some offensive juice without the volatile Brown, magnified without the dependable Godwin, so the defense must be better to take over the games. As reigning champions led by Brady, they can make up for their particular loss with other players. No Brown may also end up being a rally bonus for the locker room.
The Buccaneers could have been a more dangerous team in the playoffs under Brown, but not when he was no longer buying their championship cause.
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.