The Falcons are playing the Buccaneers this week, which means there’s another opportunity for head coach Arthur Smith to coach against quarterback Tom Brady.
Tampa Bay defeated Atlanta in both matchups last year, Smith’s first with the Falcons. Brady completed 71 percent of his passes for 644 yards with nine touchdowns and one interception — the best numbers he put up against any divisional opponent in 2021.
On Wednesday, Smith was asked about Tampa Bay’s offense and weapons Brady has outside of receiver Mike Evans. But he spent the first part of his answer pivoting back to how good Brady is and has been for a long time.
“Well, I don’t think Brady gets enough credit, to sustain that level of success year after year, he’s going to make the right play,” Smith said in his press conference. “If you make a mistake or leave somebody uncovered, usually he finds them. Something as simple as a flat route, you bust a coverage or they don’t cover it, he kind of goes where you’re not.
‘He’s had a million different teammates and been successful, they’ve got a good team, they got good veteran players. Clearly, he’s got a lot of trust in Mike Evans — I would too if I were a quarterback — and they’ve got other veterans in there and they’ve mixed and matched. [Chris] Godwin seems to be getting back, you can tell he’s had a lot of trust in Godwin. Good line, they protect well, really good tackles, [Tristan] Wirfs and Donovan Smith, Tristan Wirfs is a really good player and they’ve got a lot of good players.”
It’s hard to say exactly who isn’t giving Brady enough credit for winning seven Super Bowls across his 23-year career after starting out as a sixth-round pick, but apparently, someone isn’t. Either way, the Falcons will have a significant challenge in taking on a motivated Bucs team in Week Five after Tampa Bay’s poor performance against Kansas City last Sunday night.