Tag: tom brady pick six

Watch: Underrated Chargers CB Michael Davis serves Tom Brady a pick-six

Chargers cornerback Michael Davis just gave Tom Brady his second pick-six of the 2020 season.

You may not have been familiar with Chargers cornerback Michael Davis before one play in Los Angeles’ game against the Buccaneers, but any time you take a Tom Brady pass 78 yards the other way for a pick-six, that’ll get people’s attention.

The Chargers, who played more zone coverage than any other NFL team last season (75% of their defensive snaps), showed Brady a single-high look and spun it to two-deep after the snap. Something Brady’s seen a zillion times in his career, and that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that Brady was trying to hit receiver Justin Watson on a quick out, and Davis did a brilliant job of backing off, baiting the GOAT, and moving in to grab the ball

From there, it was all academic.

Davis isn’t a big name, but I ranked him as the 11th-best zone cornerback in the NFL last season, and it’s clear that he’s keeping it up.

Also, this marks the third time in Brady’s career that he’s thrown two pick-sixes in the same season — he also did it in 2001 and 2015. Brady also threw one in Week 1 of the 2020 campaign against Saints cornerback Janoris Jenkins, who I ranked as the third-best at his position in zone coverage in 2019. You can read analysis of that play below:

Anatomy of a Play: Saints cracked Bruce Arians’ code on Tom Brady’s pick-six

Watch: Tom Brady gives up a pick six

Los Angeles Chargers defender Michael Davis steps in front of a Tom Brady throw and takes it the other way for six.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense seemed to be in sync early, with a scoring drive to start things off against the Los Angeles Chargers. After Justin Herbert matched the Buccaneers offense with a deep shot to Tyron Johnson, it was the veteran quarterback’s turn.

A Tom Brady passing attempt did lead to points, but for the boys in blue:

Brady tries to find Justin Watson on the speed out pattern, but Michael Davis steps in front of it and takes it the other way for a touchdown. This play is eerily reminiscent of Brady’s Pick Six back in Week 1, when Janoris Jenkins stepped in front of another speed out for six points going the other way.

At this point in his career, Brady has faced many questions about his arm strength. The deep route is the proverbial “NFL throw,” where arm strength does come into play. For the second time this season, Brady saw one of those “NFL throws” result in six points for the other squad.