Arians defends Leftwich, says Brady struggled early this season
Tampa Bay Buccaneers senior advisor Bruce Arians came to Byron Leftwich's defense amid immense criticism of the offensive coordinator.
While discussing the team's offensive struggles with JoeBucsFan.com's Ira Kaufman, Arians said, "I don't think it was fair to Byron. Nobody is going to say that (Tom) Brady was playing bad, but he was playing bad."
Tampa Bay suffered from an inefficient run game and a general lack of explosive plays amid a 3-5 start. Leftwich, in particular, received criticism for his play-calling.
However, the Bucs have since won two straight games, including a 21-16 victory over the Seattle Seahawks in Germany. Brady has completed 58 of 87 passes for 528 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception during that stretch, while Tampa Bay rushed for a season-high 161 yards versus Seattle.
The recent run has Arians feeling "really optimistic" for the rest of the year.
"First off, we're getting healthy," Arians said. "Tom smiled at practice for the first time this season. He's going to be fine.
"I love the swagger we played with Sunday, especially defensively. It's been missing."
The Buccaneers have a Week 11 bye. They'll look to extend their win streak in Week 12 against the Cleveland Browns.