Brady's deep ball goes nowhere
Elise Amendola/Associated Press |
There are a lot of things wrong with the New England Patriots offense right now and Tom Brady is at the center of it. Yes, there are problems with the offensive line and the receivers not getting separation but Brady also is not getting them the deep ball.
So far this season Brady has only completed a single pass for more than 20 yards this season. That's right, one. This has become an unfortunate trend in Brady's game. Since 2007 Brady's completion percentage for passes of 20 or more yards has been in decline.
2014: 1 of 16 (6.3 percent)
2013: 20 of 66 (39.4 percent)
2012: 20 of 84 (40.5 percent)
2011: 20 of 60 (41.7 percent)
2010: 17 of 45 (44.4 percent)
2009: 19 of 68 (32.4 percent)
2007: 31 of 73 (50.7 percent)
One of the reasons why Brady is struggling to get the ball down the field could be the size of the receivers he is throwing to. Brady's receivers are of a below average height, a 5-foot-11 Danny Amendola and 5-foot-10 Julian Edelman. The catch radius for smaller receivers is incredibly small when being covered by larger defensive backs.
Sure there is the 6'6 Gronkowski who is a huge target for Brady and Tim Wright is 6'4. However Gronk has not looked 100% so far this season, appearing slower than normal. Tim Wright has been a no show this season. He has been targeted 4 times and has caught 4 passes this season. In Arrowhead Wright only played 16 snaps and was not targeted once. snaps and was not targeted at all.
The 6'2 Brandon Lafell had a good game last Monday hauling in 6 catches for 119 yards and a touchdown.
Brady had a 6'4 Randy Moss when he had a 50.7% deep passing completion.
Do you believe Brady will be more successful throwing deep as the season progresses, or do you think Brady's deep ball is gone for good? Let us know in the comments section below!
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