Tom Brady puts pressure on Bucs, saying ‘the most embarrassing part of our team is our effort level’

Tom Brady has piled pressure on his Buccaneers teammates, openly telling them on his podcast that ‘the most embarrassing part of our team is our effort level,’ despite Sunday night’s dramatic comeback victory over the LA Rams – the defending Super Bowl champions. 

The team’s 16-13 triumph, coupled with a win over the Falcons last month, gives Tampa Bay (4-5) a tiebreaker advantage in the NFC South halfway through the NFL calendar, after the quarterback’s turbulent start to the season after confirming his much-publicized divorce from his ex-wife of 13 years, Gisele Bündchen. 

‘There’s only so deep of a hole that you can dig, and you know, if you dig yourself too deep of a hole then you got no shot coming out of it,’ Brady, 45, said on his Sirius XM podcast, also starring commentator Jim Gray and SNL’s Kenan Thompson. 

‘The best teams start playing well around Thanksgiving. That’s because you basically figured out what you are and what you need to do and there’s definitely some things, we do well but there’s a lot of things we don’t do well.’

‘I think too much of good, bad, good, bad, good, bad, leaves you average and no one’s trying to be average. If you want to be a great team, you gotta be way better than average so correcting our mistakes, improving our effort, which probably is the most embarrassing part of our team is our effort level on gameday, andthat’s something we better fix,’ he added.

Brady reacts after a play during the first quarter of the Bucs’ home game against the LA Rams

The 45-year-old QB has ripped into his teammates’ ’embarrassing efforts’ shown on gameday 

Brady has endured a tough season following his divorce from his ex-wife of 13 years, Gisele

Brady has a point. It’s much too soon to conclude if the Buccaneers have resolved the issues that have undermined them, especially on offense. 

Beating the Rams to avoid a four-game skid, nevertheless, is a step in the right direction and figures to make for a much more pleasant flight across the Atlantic Ocean this week to face the Seattle Seahawks (6-3) in Munich, Germany.

Next week’s bye will afford coach Todd Bowles and his staff an opportunity to assess where the team stands and implement any changes deemed necessary. 

‘We have just not played the way we’re capable. Just some things have kind of not really fallen our way at all,’ Brady said last week before the win against LA. ‘Hopefully we can get a win (Sunday), get to 5-5 and then the whole season is ahead of us.’ 

Brady threw a pass into the end zone with nine seconds left against LA to win the game 16-13

The Bucs will now fly to Munich with a bit of momentum for the NFL’s first game in Germany

Brady celebrates with fans at Raymond James Stadium following the first win in three games

Red zone and third down efficiency have been problematic. So have untimely penalties and other mistakes contributing to the team’s scoring woes, and uncharacteristic breakdowns that have fed inconsistency on defense.

Through nine games, the Bucs are only averaging 18 points per game, which ranks near the bottom of the NFL after being one of the league’s highest-scoring teams the past two seasons. Brady didn’t get the offense into the end zone until just 9 seconds remained against the Rams.

Defensively, they’ve limited opponents to 21 or fewer points in seven of nine games. but not been nearly as effective lately in getting off the field on third down and in other key situations that have influenced the outcome of games.

Players on the Bucs celebrate together after scoring a last-minute touch down vs. LA in Q4

The unit also hasn’t been as dependable as usual against the run, yielding a little more than 125 yards per game on the ground.

Bowles is confident the shortcomings are fixable. He was clearly encouraged after the defense allowed a season-low 206 yards against the Rams, including just 68 rushing on 24 attempts.

‘It was a hard-fought game. It was complementary football. It was a team win,’ Bowles said. ‘It’s a lot easier to fly overseas after you win a game than when you lose a game. We’ve just got to start putting them together.’