In what felt like a game that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers needed to win on Thursday night, they threw away a first-half lead to the Baltimore Ravens with Lamar Jackson carving their defence to shreds in the second half. But despite the defeat, Mike Evans has insisted the blame can't be laid at Tom Brady's door.
Tampa Bay's offence performed much better than we have seen from them in their last two losses against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Carolina Panthers, but it wasn't enough to get the win in Florida as they now sit at 3-5 - the first time in quarterback Brady's legendary career.
Throughout his 22 years as a stating quarterback in the NFL, Brady has never played on a team with a losing record and has only missed the playoffs once (2002). Brady has also never lost three consecutive games since 2002 until last night.
The Buccaneers looked to be the better team in the first-half, methodically moving the ball downfield with Evans and Chris Godwin looking back to their best. But a number of promising drives stalled due to miscommunications, dropped passes and individual errors.
Tampa have struggled to run the ball all season, with their offensive line and running back Leonard Fournette failing to reach the heights that they had last season. The Ravens ability to stop the run saw them gave opportunities to pin their ears back and get their best pass-rushers on the field, and they'd have joy with this as Justin Houston sacked Brady on two consecutive plays.
This bringing another unwanted record for Brady, as he took over Ben Roethlisberger as the most sacked quarterback in NFL history, being sacked 555 times in 326 games.
Questions have been asked of Brady all season after his somewhat controversial 'retirement' back in March. The 45-year-old announced his intentions to retire, but came back to the team just 40 days later.
Since his return though, many have questions his desire to play, with the quarterback not looking like his usual self in terms of his body language on the field, compounded by the team losing games.
And with questions being asked after the loss to the Ravens, superstar wide receiver Evans was quick to defend Brady when asked about him by a reporter. Evans told the Tampa Bay Times: "He’s the best to ever do it. I mean, he hates losing. That’s all he knows is winning and being 3-5 is not good enough. So we’ve got to turn it around and soon. Nobody is pointing the finger at Tom Brady. It’s the whole team. It’s a team game."
Rightly so, Brady's teammates are well and truly behind him and are confident in his abilities at the age of 45. In truth, the quarterback's individual performances have not been too bad, making deep throws throughout the season and remaining poised in the pocket.
After three consecutive losses though, Buccaneers find themselves reeling in with a downhill trajectory in what could be a difficult ask if they are to make the play-offs this season. Luckily, they're in the worst division in football right now, with team having a winning record in the NFC South.
