Tom Brady came into this season looking to win his eighth Super Bowl title. At this point, Brady is a legend. In the eyes of many, he can do no wrong, and even one bad season won't be enough to destroy his legacy. Having said that, there are certain expectations when you are Tom Brady, and if you can't meet them, you will be put under the microscope.
That is exactly what is happening to Brady right now as his Tampa Bay Buccaneers are stuck at a record of 3-4. The Bucs lost to the Carolina Panthers by a score of 21-3 over the weekend, and this has a lot of people hitting the panic button in regard to Brady's career. It is very likely that this will be his final year, and given the way the Bucs are playing, he will be lucky to win himself just one playoff game.
There are plenty of analysts out there who are pretty well spelling the end for the Buccaneers. Considering the NFC South is pretty bad, one could say that these predictions are premature. Regardless, dunking on Brady is easy business right now, and Stephen A. Smith of ESPN understands that better than anyone.
Today on First Take, Smith went so far as to say that the Buccaneers are on the edge of an "abyss" and that is very likely that Brady will have no choice but to leave the game, entirely. "[The Buccaneers] look like they're approaching an abyss. ... They are threatening to disintegrate before our very eyes and send Tom Brady unceremoniously into retirement," he said.
This is an incredibly harsh reading of the situation, although you wouldn't expect anything less from Smith, who has watched thousands of hours' worth of sports throughout his life.
At this point, it is hard to imagine Brady and the Bucs bouncing back in any significant way. Of course, Brady has proved us all wrong before, and any sort of doubt tends to fuel the quarterback further.
