Tom Brady's Brutally Bad First Half vs Bengals Showed No Signs of Offense Turning it Around
By Michael Luciano
The New England Patriots are beating that Cincinnati Bengals at halftime. That's not unusual.
What is a bit strange, however, is the fact that Tom Brady isn't even completing half of his passes, as he has managed just 10 completions on 21 throws for 95 yards, with 23 of them coming on a dump off touchdown to James White.
Brady is 10/21 for 95 yards at halftime.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) December 15, 2019
Last 4 1/2 games, he’s thrown 178 passes for 996 yards
If you remove the 2 garbage time drives at Houston (14 passes, 125 yards), he’s thrown 164 passes for 871 yards ... 5.3 YPA.
*************YIKES*****************
That comes out to a passer rating of 76.45.
Keep in mind that these numbers are coming against the Bengals, a 1-12 team that only Adam Gase found it difficult to move the ball against.
New England has a 13-10 lead over the Bengals at halftime, but that shouldn't be enough for Patriots fans to overlook Brady's struggles over the last few weeks. He hasn't posted a passer rating of 100 or higher since Week 5, and he has just nine touchdown passes in that span, with two coming in garbage time against the Texans.
Average QB vs. 2019 Bengals: 8.4 YPA, 5.1 sack%
— Scott Kacsmar (@ScottKacsmar) December 15, 2019
Tom Brady 1st half vs. Bengals: 4.5 YPA, 8.7 sack%
New England will still have a playoff spot all but wrapped up, but Brady's poor stretch of games heading into the postseason has to be concerning for Patriots fans.