Blaming Tom Brady for the Bucs 9-0 loss to the Saints is all the rage in the media right now. Past team failures against the Saints are being held against the Bucs quarterback, despite the fact he’s put two games of quality tape up against New Orleans this season. Bucs head coach Bruce Arians is always one for blunt honesty, especially when it comes to his quarterback. So it’s telling that he’s been quick to point out that Brady played fine against the Bucs’ division rival.

“I think Tom was playing solid,” Arians said on Bucs Total Access this week. “I know he’d like to have the fumble back. But he’s making a play on that. But other than that, we’ve gotta do a better job of protecting him. And run the ball more consistently”

Brady finished the game 26-48 for 214 yards and zero touchdowns. The All-Pro quarterback was also sacked four times and had two turnovers. But Brady has a plethora of perfect passes dropped by his receivers, and was under quick pressure all first half. Early injuries to Chris Godwin and Mike Evans forced inexperienced wide receivers into the lineup, making route-running mistakes frequent on tape. A third quarter injury to Leonard Fournette didn’t help either.

Bucs QB Tom Brady and Saints DT David Onyemata – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Yes, Brady made a bad decision late in the Bucs’ Week 8 game against the Saints. But he also threw for 375 yards and four touchdowns in that game! However, that production became obsolete because of the scoreboard. That’s the way evaluation often works in the media, but Arians isn’t having it for this most recent loss.

“Offensively, when you start losing guys like Mike and Chris, young guys have to step in,” Arians said on Bucs Total Access. “They need to play better when they get their opportunity.”

As I detailed in the latest Pewter Report All-22 Film Room, the Bucs young supporting cast was terrible on Sunday night. Tyler Johnson, Jaelon Darden, Cam Brate, Ke’Shawn Vaughn and Rob Gronkowski were a disaster, while Scotty Miller and Ronald Jones didn’t do nearly enough. Gronkowski dropped three passes and failed to come up with a few more catchable balls. When the Bucs needed him most, the future Hall of Famer had one of the worst games of his career.

“I don’t think there’s any doubt,” Arians said about Brady and Gronkowski wanting to bounce back. “Neither one was satisfied, that’s for sure. Especially Gronk. The 10 guys around Tom have to play a lot better too, to help him out.”

It’s a novel idea, but maybe when the best offense in the NFL gets shutout, the worse players on the field are mostly to blame? Not the best player to ever play? Especially when many of those skill players have barely played this season. It sounds crazy, I know. But maybe losing Evans, Godwin, Antonio Brown, Breshad Perriman, Fournette and Giovani Bernard against one of the NFL’s best defenses is the biggest issue? I know, I know. Bold take.

The Bucs return to action against the Panthers in Week 16.