VikingLord wrote: ↑Tue Jan 26, 2021 4:01 pm
J. Kapp 11 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 26, 2021 10:48 am
I mean, the GOAT threw three picks in the second half on the road and still won. Don't tell me Brady won that game. The Packers blew it.
I won't tell you Brady won the game, but I will tell you the way Brady played won it.
Interesting. I saw his play in the second half as reckless. But that's what makes talking about sports so great.
VikingLord wrote: ↑Tue Jan 26, 2021 4:01 pm
By that I mean Brady tried to take the top off the Packer defense all game. Yes, he paid for it with some picks, but he wasn't conservative. Once he knew his OL was going to keep him clean for the most part, Brady repeatedly went downfield on the Packers, victimizing their DBs all day, which in turn cooled off any plans the Packer defense might have had to get more aggressive on the rush. Brady literally took what the Packers gave him all day. That bomb for the TD to end the 1st half after the Packer turnover was what teams that play to win do. I could not see Zimmer dialing up even that attempt in that situation much less Cousins pulling the trigger on it if it were dialed up. The Vikings would have played for the FG there and probably been content to run out the half with the lead.
But to me, all of this — from trying to take the top off the defense to the play at the end of the first half — was less Brady and more Arians. That's the way he operates. No risk it, no biscuit. He coined that phrase. That's Arians' MO, not Brady's. And Tampa has the weapons at receiver to do it. The fact that the Packers played Cover 3 with single high safety in that situation was absolutely inexcusable. Cousins totally would have made that play because it was easy, and it was thrown from a pristine pocket.
I'm not a Zimmer acolyte by any means, but I wonder about your comment there. Against the Lions, we scored a 40-yard TD pass on the final play of the half. Obviously a week-17 game between the two NFC North bottom-feeders carries far less weight than the NFC Championship game, but Zimmer still went for the TD. My problem with Zimmer this year was that he overcorrected his conservative ways. He went for it TOO OFTEN on things like 4th-and-short, and the Vikings failed more often than they made it. If he kicks a field goal against Seattle, the Vikings likely make the playoffs.
VikingLord wrote: ↑Tue Jan 26, 2021 4:01 pmThat is the difference between teams like the Bucs and players like Brady as compared to teams like the Vikings and players like Cousins. One understands he has nothing to lose until he's won, while the other believes he has something to lose that he hasn't yet won. Totally different mindsets with totally different, but completely predictable, outcomes.
How many quarterbacks have Brady's track record? He's got tons of positive experience to lean on. And we're going to compare Kirk Cousins to a guy who is going to his 10th Super Bowl? That's hardly fair. Cousins has played in Washington, which was dysfunctional, and in Minnesota, which is coached by a guy who has no idea what to do in tight situations. Zimmer could never, ever dial up a play like Andy Reid dialed up with Chad Henne on 4th and 2. Forget whether Zimmer would have had the stones to go for it in the first place. If he'd have gone for it, he would have run the ball up the middle and gotten stuffed, like he always does.
I just don't think that Tom Brady won that game for the Bucs. Their defense did, along with the Packers' ineptitude. Two first-and-goal situations for Green Bay in the fourth, and they targeted Davonte Adams 6 times while targeting no one else. When have you ever seen Aaron Rodgers lock in on one receiver? It was ridiculous. With Tom Brady throwing 3 second-half picks, Green Bay should have rolled them. But their offense and their coach crapped the bed when it mattered.
All this being said ... unless the injuries along the Chiefs' offensive line pave the way for the Bucs to get tons of pressure on Mahomes, the Chiefs are going to destroy Tampa Bay. Too many weapons, and a defense that is playing amazing football.