The Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the New Orleans Saints 30-20 on Sunday to advance to the NFC Championship Game.
After the fact, Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians couldn’t help but take a little shot at the New England Patriots – who struggled mightily after a messy break-up with Tom Brady.
“Consummate leader,” Arians said of Brady to NBC Sports’ Peter King. “Has been all year. Got the air of confidence that permeates through our team every day. I allow him to be himself. Like, New England didn’t allow him to coach. I allow him to coach. I just sit back sometimes and watch.”
When Brady left the Patriots, despite what people said publicly, it was a very acrimonious separation. Various New England players came out and talked about how they were glad Brady was gone; multiple Patriots assistant coaches mocked Brady’s struggles throughout the season; head coach Bill Belichick tried to make it seem like Cam Newton would be a sufficient replacement; and both sides just came off very annoyed.
Deshaun Watson is making it no secret where he wants to be traded. https://t.co/OBlAjvKpbQ
— Game 7 (@game7__) January 18, 2021
Given all that, Brady and Arians relishing their success and the failure of the Patriots, who couldn’t even make the playoffs, is understandable.
That said, their first season together didn’t exactly go smoothly either. Arians publicly bashed Brady over and over and over and over again. Brady bristled at the way he was being spoken to by someone who had accomplished way less. It was bad there for a while.
The Ravens kept it real after Lamar Jackson’s latest playoff flop. https://t.co/zmz16PZho1
— Game 7 (@game7__) January 17, 2021
Plus, for all their strife, Brady and Belichick accomplished way more together than Arians can ever hope to with his quarterback. The Patriots won six Super Bowls and appeared in a grand total of nine of them with Brady and Belichick at the helm – the Bucs likely won’t even advance past the conference championship.
Tampa Bay beat New Orleans for the first time this year and the coaching staff is understandably excited. But Arians has a habit of letting his mouth write checks that his team has difficulty cashing later, and mocking a dynasty when he has yet to accomplish anything of note himself might not be the best look.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
