Tom Brady’s Decision to End Retirement Clowned by Twitter After Bucs Lose to Panthers

Things have gotten bad for Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Very, very bad.

Nobody would have predicted that a Carolina Panthers team firmly in the middle of a fire sale and fresh off of dealing franchise running back Christian McCaffrey to the San Francisco 49ers would have put up much of a fight against the Bucs, let alone beat them 21-3.

But here we are.

The Bucs are now 3-4 after maybe the most improbable result of the NFL season, and it’s become hard to ignore that Brady may not have made the right call coming back for another season.

As you might imagine, NFL Twitter didn’t have much chill after Sunday’s scoreline:

A cursory glance at Brady’s stats alone wouldn’t suggest he was the main issue Sunday. He finished 32-of-49 for 290 yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions and one sack. Mike Evans also dropped a wide-open, no-doubter touchdown pass that might have changed the complexion of the game.

But this wasn’t a great Brady performance, either:

At 3-4, the Bucs don’t have to hit the panic button in the weak NFC South. They are currently battling the 3-4 Falcons, 2-5 Panthers and 2-5 New Orleans Saints for the division crown. They remain the favorites to top the division.

But seeing a Brady-led offense this inept is a shock to the system. It’s impossible not to question whether Brady pushed his luck a season too far by returning for another year. He is 45, after all.

And the Bucs are reeling. It couldn’t come at a worse time, as a tough matchup with the Baltimore Ravens looms Thursday. The only thing worse than a 3-4 start for a team with contending expectations and aspirations is a 3-5 start.