Tom Brady’s 13 Interceptions in 2014

Play 7
Situation: 2nd and 10 at SD 18
Description: Q2 - (:18) (Shotgun) T.Brady pass short left intended for R.Gronkowski INTERCEPTED by M.Te’o at SD 4. M.Te’o to SD 4 for no gain (S.Vereen).
Opponent: SD

Offensive Formation: Shotgun Double Slot Right Near
Offensive Personnel: 11
Defensive Formation: Cover 2

Brady takes the snap from shotgun and instantly finds SS37 Addae sitting in the deep left zone in the Chargers Cover 2 shell. Addae sees that WR11 Edleman is breaking inside on a post route. He shifts to bracket cover Edleman leaving the deep left zone wide open for TE87 Gronkowski to find a spot near the front-left pylon.

Brady locks onto Gronkowski and releases the ball sliding to the left side of the pocket while not stepping into the throw. This is what causes the ball to go short leaving an easy interception for ILB50 Te’o. This interception is on Brady.

Watch this play again and pay attention to WR80 Amendola in the slot right WR position. He runs a quick spot route and then accelerates to the opening underneath the spot vacated by the Te’o covering Gronkowski. On 2nd and 10 this would have been an excellent option for Brady as well if he wanted an easy read and short pass over the middle of the field. Granted there was only 18 seconds left in the half, but the Patriots were down by 1 point and had a time-out left.

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Play 8
Situation: 1st and 10 at MIA 38
Description: Q1 - (5:53) (No Huddle) T.Brady pass short left intended for B.LaFell INTERCEPTED by J.Trusnik at MIA 34. J.Trusnik to MIA 34 for no gain (D.Connolly; B.Stork).
Opponent: MIA

Offensive Formation: Offset-I Near Right
Offensive Personnel: 21
Defensive Formation: Cover 1, man-to-man on outside WRs

Brady takes the snap from under center and fakes the handoff setting up play-action. On 1st and 10 this is a two-man concept out of a run-formation to isolate the wide receivers and pull the linebackers out of hte play. This play was set up perfectly to the corner-post route, but give credit to LB93 Trusnik for making a great tip at the line of scrimmage and for snagging the ball out of the air.

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Play 9
Situation: 2nd and 15 at NE 19
Description: Q4 - (7:26) (Shotgun) T.Brady pass short left intended for B.LaFell INTERCEPTED by M.Williams [J.Babin] at NE 31. M.Williams to NE 30 for 1 yard (B.LaFell).
Opponent: NYJ

Offensive Formation: Shotgun Double Slot Right Far
Offensive Personnel: 11
Defensive Formation: Cover 1 Robber

Brady take the snap from shotgun finding WR19 LaFell running a comeback route to the left sideline. LB58 Babin runs a stunt in combination with LB56 Davis from the 7-tech spot putting pressure on Brady through the B-gap between the left tackle and the left guard. Brady can’t fully step into his throw and leaves the ball too far inside. The ball bounces off of LaFell’s fingertips direclty into CB22 Williams hands for an interception.

In this play I blame RB34 Vareen for not recognizing the stunt in pass protection and for allowing Brady to get hit cleanly as he is attempting to throw the ball. This causes the innaccuracy as Brady pulls the ball too far to the inside.

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Play 10
Situation: 1st and 15 at NE 35
Description: Q2 - (1:11) (Shotgun) T.Brady pass deep middle intended for R.Gronkowski INTERCEPTED by D.Smith at BLT 43. D.Smith to BLT 43 for no gain (D.Amendola).
Opponent: BAL (DIV)

Offensive Formation: Shotgun Twin Stack Left Near
Offensive Personnel: 11
Defensive Formation: Cover 2

The Patriots line up in shotgun double right slot and motion WR80 Amendola across the formation to create the twin stack left. After the snap Brady instantly finds TE87 Gronkowski running a skinny post route up the middle of the field coevered by LB51 Smith. Here is a view of the field as Brady is throwing the ball.

Notice that after LB51 Smith follows Gronkowski up the middle of the field this leaves a large gap over the middle of the field for Amendola to sit underneath for an easy pass yet Brady forces it to Gronkowski with two deep safeties over top and a LB underneath. Predictably Smith turns and makes a key interception.

With 1:11 left in the first half with two time-outs remaining on first down, this could have easily been a quick 10-15 yard pick-up and a chance for the Patriots to take a 17-14 lead at halftime. This interception is on Brady.

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Play 11
Situation: 1st and 10 at IND 26
Description: Q2 - (9:21) T.Brady pass deep middle intended for R.Gronkowski INTERCEPTED by D.Jackson at IND 1. D.Jackson to IND 7 for 6 yards (S.Vereen). Penalty on NE-D.Connolly, Offensive Holding, declined.
Opponent: IND (CONF)

Offensive Formation: Singleback Double Right Slot
Offensive Personnel: 12
Defensive Formation: Cover 2

Pre-snap TE47 Hoomanawanui motions across the line of srimmage. Brady fakes the handoff to RB34 Vareen and instantly finds TE87 Gronkowski running a skinny post over the middle of the field. Brady releases the ball, but it gets intercepted by LB52 Jackson. doesn’t lead his target far enough. LB52 Jackson intercepts the ball over the middle of the field.

This interception is on Brady. First, Jackson had good coverage underneath Gronkowski while SS29 Adams bracketed him over the top from the Cover 2 shell. This ball is forced into a tight window where Brady needs to lead Gronkowski more to even have a chance at the ball. On 1st and 10 this is an awful decision. I like that Brady is decisive with the ball, but he needs to look elsewhere like Vareen coming from the backfield for an easy 3-4 yard gain on the play with the potential for more if he can break free of LB50 Freeman.

In Plays 12 and 13, Tom Brady threw interceptions against the Seahawks defense in the Super Bowl. These plays were fully broken down in this article on NFL Breakdowns (Tom Brady vs Seahawks - Super Bowl XLIX). To summarize, in play 12 (GFY found here), Tom Brady throws up the ball for grabs where he should have just thrown it away since nobody was open. It was 3rd down, but even a field goal opportunity potentially making it 3-0 is better than this. In Play 13 (GFY found here), Bobby Wagner makes a good read on the throw sitting in zone coverage under TE87 Gronkowski to take away the ball from the Patriots. Brady needs to see the underneath linebacker and move on from this read.

By my count of the thirteen interceptions I think Brady is directly responsible for seven of the interceptions while being at least partially responsible for three more of them. Interesting to note was that six of the thirteen interceptions came on a variation of a post-route including the standard post-route, but the skinny-post and the corner-post. My next article will take a look at Brady’s touchdown plays.