Tom Brady Makes It Like a Video Game

Teammates are keeping the pressure off Tom Brady and it's going to make an upset like last year's by the Bears far more difficult to achieve.

Tom Brady is more like a video game operator these days than an actual NFL quarterback.

He might as well be playing Madden.

At 44, Brady is able to do pretty much whatever he wants because Tampa Bay controls matchup advantages to keep him free of pressure. He's able then to deliver it at will.

"Well I mean, you got to be able to have guys on matching guys, take away some of his reads," Bears linebacker Alec Ogletree said. "When you get an opportunity to get back there, you have to be able to get back there hopefully fast enough to get him down because obviously he's known for getting the ball out of his hand quickly. He doesn't take too many sacks.

"They have a good O-line that's blocking really well for him. If you give him a chance to stand back there and hold the ball, that's where he lives. He's comfortable like that. But that's kind of any quarterback."

The nine sacks Brady has taken is tied for fifth lowest total in the NFL.

When the Bears beat Tampa Bay last year they had constant pressure on Brady and made him look 43

At the end of the game he looked 83 as he forgot what down it was, and the Bears got away with a 20-19 victory.

Achieving anything close to that kind of win this year will be extremely difficult and the main reason is the weapons at Brady's disposal in this video game match up so well against most opponents, and especially the Bears.

Here are the matchups where the Bears should be most severely challenged.

Bears RT Elijah Wilkinson vs. Bucs Edge Shaquil Barrett

Barrett hasn't been quite the sack monster he was the first year the Buccaneers got him from Denver as a cheaper, low-level free agent, a move the Bears very easily could have made at the time to complement Khalil Mack but didn't. However, he's still a force and starting to heat up with three sacks in his last three games after making one in his first three. Barrett commands a 79.7 Pro Football Focus grade, 16th of the edge rushers they've graded this year and he has 11 pressures this year after making 42 last year. Barrett is familiar with Wilkinson because they were teammates in Denver in 2017 and 2018 but they usually weren't facing each other. Wilkinson was a guard in 2018 and didn't play much in 2017. Wilkinson looked strong in the running game against Green Bay and Las Vegas after coming in to replace injured Germain Ifedi. Whethere he can hold up for an entire game against a top-level pass rusher is a different situation considering Green Bay lost Preston Smith to injury during the game last week and the Raiders were behind and on their heels all game.

Bears Edge Trevis Gipson vs. Bucs LT Donovan Smith

With Robert Quinn on the reserve/COVID-19 list, the Bears pass rush takes a severe hit and will be playing a second-year edge rusher in his place. Gipson has made sacks in two of the last three games and after a slow start has earned superb PFF marks in lmited time, 87 defensive plays on the year. This is the problem. He's very raw and is facing a respected 28-year-old tackle. Gipson had the advantage of being a reserve relieving a veteran when he replaced Quinn. Now he'll be on the field most. In preseason he looked especially susceptible to the running game. Smith is graded by PFF as the seventh-best tackle this year, the highest by far he has ever been in their eyes. He'd always been a bit of an underachieving tackle as a second-round pick with PFF grades far lower than Charles Leno Jr. That was before coach Bruce Arians and Brady were on the scene, with grades well below Charles Leno Jr. Smith has allowed one sack this year after giving up four last year and has four penalties.

Bears CB Kindle Vildor vs. Bucs WR Chris Godwin

After a shaky start Vildor has shown some improvement at avoiding the big play as the season has progressed. His completion percentage allowed is still abnormally high for a starting cornerback at 78.3% (18 completions in 23 targets) and it's for a passer rating of 153.7. He's also been saddled with three TD passes allowed, but one of those seemed more of a group effort than his own fault. Vildor remains fairly dependable as a tackler in a secondary where tackling seems to be an issue. He has three missed tackles in 22 attempts. Godwin has a physical advantage of three inches and 19 pounds on Vildor and the Bucs will use him effectively on back-shoulder throws and deep balls. Brady hasn't been able to get him the deep ball this year, and his longest catch is 28 yards while his yards per catch (12.0) is lower than any other season in his career. Still, he is making plenty of catches, with 34 in six games.

Bears C Sam Mustipher vs. Bucs DT Vita Vea

Vea has been decimating the interior of offensive lines with a push against the run and also the pass. He's not especially a pass rusher but has 1 1/2 sacks and had one last year against the Bears. At 6-4, 347, he's a load for any lineman to handle and there have always been questions about Mustipher's ability to stand up to stronger interior defensive lineman because he came into the league at a much lower weight, although he has added over 20 pounds since then.

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