Patriots: Bruce Arians fuels Brady-Belichick debate with post-Super Bowl comments
By Jerry Trotta

While most Patriots fans found great pleasure in watching Tom Brady win a championship the year after he spurned the team in free agency, Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians has really done everything in his power to make it difficult for them to root for their former quarterback.
Weāre not entirely sure what his motivation is, but Arians made himself public enemy number one in the eyes of Patriots Nation last month with his snide comments about the teamās culture and the freedom he gave Brady in terms of coaching up his new teammates, claiming that the 43-year-old signal caller wasnāt allowed to do that in New England.
Those remarks really ruffled some feathers in Foxborough, and Arians took things a step further after the Bucsā big win by throwing gasoline on the polarizing debate about whether Brady or Belichick was more essential to the Patriotsā dynasty.
Bruce Arians believes Tom Brady was āmaking a statementā that it āwasnāt all coach Belichickā https://t.co/STWBRnyai4 pic.twitter.com/AHOY5ctvaU
ā Boston.com (@BostonDotCom) February 9, 2021
It would appear that Bruce Arians is more obsessed with determining a winner in the Brady-Belichick debate than the media.
"āTom is playing for his teammates right now,ā Arians told Sports Illustrated. āHe wants those guys to experience what heās experienced six times. I think personally, too, heās making a statement. You know? It wasnāt all coach Belichick.ā"
There goes Arians trying to stir the pot again. This is simply another case of the 68-year-old head coach trying to speak for Brady, when in actuality, the three-time MVP dismissed the idea that he was trying to show the league that he can win a championship without Belichickās help.
If anything, Brady left the Patriots because their poor roster construction prevented him from accomplishing anything significant in 2019. Remember how quick the media was to write him off after New England was upset by Tennessee in the first round of the playoffs last year?
All Brady wanted was more help and the Bucs provided him with more than he could imagine in that department. He responded by finishing second in the league in touchdown throws (40), third in both passing yards (4,633) and first downs (233), and ninth in passer rating (102.2).
Arians On Brady: āIt Wasnāt All Coach Belichickā https://t.co/iKPUyGTuRR
ā PewterReport š“āā ļøš„ (@PewterReport) February 10, 2021
We mean no disrespect to the Patriots, but Brady was never going to post those sort of numbers had he stuck around for another season.
Again, regardless of what Arians seems to think, Bradyās decision to depart New England had more to do with the fact that the Buccaneers had all the requisite pieces in place for him to step in and be able to compete for a championship in Year 1 more than it did him wanting to make some statement to Belichick and the rest of the league.