“This guy, he’s a trained killer”- Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon expresses his fear about facing Tom Brady
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Jonathan Gannon and Tom Brady
The upcoming NFC wild-card matchup sees the NFC south champs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers face off with the #7 seed Philadelphia Eagles. Tampa’s success this season has been no secret whatsoever. Tom Brady and throwing the ball. The 2021 season has been one of Brady’s finest of his storied career. The ageless wonder threw for 5316 yards and 43 touchdowns to lead the league in both categories.
Tampa’s whole offense was built around the success as Brady led the league in pass attempts and Tampa led the league in first downs gained bypassing and had the second-fewest rushing attempts of any team. While that sounds one-dimensional, their efficiency killed teams and Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon has recognized the level of difficulty his defense will have to try to stop Brady.
Jonathan Gannon weighs in on Tom Brady’s success
Gannon was quoted by FOX, saying “This guy, he’s a trained killer, and he knows how to play good offense and what he needs to do to keep his offense on track, so it’s going to be a big-time challenge.” He added, “The run game, passing game, rush and cover, cover and rush, being in the right spots, winning our leverage side a little bit more. I’ve always thought we tackled pretty well. If you look at the Tampa game, I don’t think we tackled as well as we have in some other games. Some of that was them, some were us. So, just we know to be in this game, our execution level has to be high.”
It’s clear Gannon understands the task at hand and respects his opposition. When the teams met in week 6, Brady completed 34/42 passes and had 2 touchdowns. While the Eagles defense did force 1 interception, the offense couldn’t turn it into points. Brady was clinical as ever and made solid decisions that helped create a 28-7 lead. That game finished 28-22 with the Eagles cutting a deficit in the 4th quarter but not doing enough to get the win.
The Eagles defense managed to stop the high-powered Bucs offense twice in the 4th quarter which allowed them to start clawing their way back into the game but their task this week will require much more work if they stand a chance at moving on into the divisional round. Jonathan Gannon certainly is aware of that fact and he’ll do his best to prepare his defense but even then, this is the GOAT in the playoffs we’re talking about. It’ll be some upset if the Eagles can pull this one off.
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Roshan Anand
(278 Articles Published)