The Tampa Bay Buccaneers looked like an explosive and modern offense at the beginning of the season, designed for passing and big plays. But after two losses in a row, the Bucs have changed. Also and especially because of Tom Brady.

Munich/Tampa Bay – The first seven weeks of the 2021 season have been a feast from the perspective of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, especially their offense, and the spectators.

A record of 6-1, averaging more than 33 points and Tom Brady leading the league in touchdowns and yards as well as in the MVP race.

Stopping engine on offense

Fragless, Bruce Arians’ offense is built for just that. But between weeks eight and ten, the worm was in. Not only did the Buccaneers lose the game at the New Orleans Saints, they also lost to the rather limited and, at the time, weak Washington football team, both by two scores.

Arians’ hurry-up football, whose motto is “No Risk It, No Biscuit”, no longer clicked as it should. Were they looking for the big play too often? “Tom (Brady, ed.) could have taken the checkdown every now and then, he held the ball too long at times,” Arians criticised his 44-year-old quarterback after the 19-29 loss to Washington.

Tampa Bay had some injured players, especially important ones like Antonio Brown and Rob Gronkowski, but that was no excuse for the two interceptions in the first quarter. “Those were his fault,” the head coach didn’t hold back on Brady.

Football in December: Run, run, run

“We have to find other ways to win,” the Buccaneers’ head coach announced. That was especially evident in week twelve against the Indianapolis Colts. It’s quite possible that Tom Brady learned something from his old team, the New England Patriots.

In the 38-31 win over the strong Colts, it was the running game that shone. With this kind of game plan, the Patriots currently have the longest winning streak in the NFL with six victories and have dominated the league for the past two decades. The later the year, the more Bill Belichick relies on a physical running game.

Tom Brady, who was his quarterback for 20 years, knows this all too well. He may have advised Arians and his offensive coordinator, Byron Leftwich, to approach games that way in the future. It was all too fitting that the deciding touchdown on the final score was a big play run.

Winning the line of scrimmage – even on defense

The stats back up what the Buccaneers had set out to do.Leonard Fournette ran for an even 100 yards and three touchdowns, Ronald Jones also contributed 37 yards on the ground. Both ball carriers had well over five yards per run, a threshold that every offensive coordinator targets.

The mantra of playing physical and winning the duel between the offensive line and defensive line doesn’t just apply to the offense. In this game in particular, the Buccaneers’ front seven had to shine, as the offence’s gameplan is actually that of the Colts’ Jonathan Taylor.

Taylor had anything but a quiet day with 16 runs for 83 yards, but all in all he was in good hands with the Buccaneers defenders. The motto was: If we are beaten, then by Carson Wentz and not by Taylor.

Wentz, who could usually rely on his running game, had to deliver with his arm. He did that in the form of three touchdowns and a 61-yard bomb to Ashton Dulin, but he also made two interceptions that gave the Buccaneers the ball twice extra.

MVP? For Brady, only rings count

With the Bucs’ new offensive approach perhaps a little less modern, Brady’s chances of winning the MVP award, which will be handed out at the end of the season, may be diminishing.

But those who know the “GOAT” know all too well that he is not concerned with individual accolades. Brady wants to win. And not awards, but the Super Bowl. He once said he would trade the 2007 MVP and the accompanying undefeated regular season in a heartbeat for the Vince Lombardi Trophy, which he lost to the New York Giants that same year.

Brady didn’t join the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to be named MVP or voted to the Pro Bowl. In the end, his drive is rings.

Not for nothing is his favourite ring “the next one”.