Tom Brady Off To Worst Start Of Career Amid Finalization of Divorce

Tom Brady has dealt with plenty of off-the-field controversies in his 20-year-career, and for the most part, it hasn’t affected his play on the field. In some cases, it appeared to even motivate and light a fire underneath him.

There was the spy-gate controversy in 2007 where the Patriots were caught filming opposing teams’ sidelines. Brady and the Patriots became the first team to finish the regular season undefeated since 1972.

Then there was the deflate-gate controversy in 2015 when the Patriots were alleged to use underinflated football in the AFC Championship win. Brady was suspended for the first four games of 2016, but he and the Patriots went on to win the Super Bowl that season.

Toward the end of Brady’s time in New England, the rumors of turmoil between him and the front office heated up. The subsequent decision to leave New England for Tampa came with plenty of noise from the media, and he answered by winning the Super Bowl.

This offseason Brady retired, and then came back to football, which we can clearly infer now caused problems at home. The day following a 27-22 loss to the Ravens on Thursday Night Football and dropping to 3-5 on the year, Brady and now-ex-wife Gisele Brady announce the finalization of their divorce.

It’s the worst start of his career through eight games, and the first time he’s been two games under .500 in his 23-year NFL career. And it’s beginning to seem as if the off-the-field issues – including the recent divorce and off-season retirement and unretirement – are playing a factor.

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The slow start hasn’t been all Brady’s fault, he does lead the NFL in passing yards with 2,367 – mainly due to Tampa’s inability to run the ball – and has thrown just one interception

But even while leading the league in passing at 45 years old, he just hasn’t been as sharp as we’ve become accustomed too. His 49.5 QBR is slightly below the average in the NFL – and would be the worst mark of his career by a substantial margin.

The Bucs still have a great chance to win the NFC South, they’re only one game back of the Atlanta Falcons and are still the favorite to come out of one of the worst divisions in football. And if they can sneak into the playoffs, anything can happen at that point.

And it’s not as if the NFC is a stacked conference and the powers of recent years all have plenty of issues as well. The defending champion Rams are below .500 and struggling, the Packers are also 3-5 and in greater danger than Tampa of missing the playoffs.

A couple of new faces in the NFC including the Eagles, Vikings, and Giants – all of whom have limited to no experience in the playoffs – are currently the teams to beat. And are you sure you wouldn’t want to back a Brady-led team over any of them come the postseason?

Brady and the Bucs will likely figure it out to some degree, but they need to do it soon. Or Brady’s football career will join his marriage as a public, and demoralizing, closed chapter of his life.