Arians' take on Brady should intrigue Pats fans

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To borrow a classic song from "Aladdin," it certainly seems like it's a whole new world for Tom Brady in Tampa.

For starters, Brady's Buccaneers are back in the playoffs for the first time in 13 years and looking for their first playoff win since their Super Bowl XXXVII victory after the 2002 season. All this while the Patriots will the playoffs -- something that only happened once when Brady was New England's starter, in that very same 2002 season.

The 43-year-old seems to be reinvigorated by his move to Tampa. And that includes his approach to working with younger teammates -- something his head coach continues to be impressed with.

"It's been a joy. It's been awesome," said Bucs head coach Bruce Arians during a Wednesday morning appearance on NFL Network's "Good Morning Football." "I didn't know that Tom took so much time with young players and coached them. It's one thing for me to say 'When you're coming out of your break, your arms aren't pumping,' and they say 'Sure.' Then Tom says it, they go 'Oh, really?' And they do it.

"It's like, I appreciate you, brother. It's like having another coach on the field for sure."

While it totally makes sense that players would want to soak up any information that the future Hall of Famer is willing to pass along, hearing about Brady's enthusiasm for coaching young players might surprise some Patriot fans. After all, Brady sometimes was reluctant to throw to young Patriots receivers and drew criticism toward the end of his New England career for not participating in OTAs.

Tampa has a chance to wrap up the NFC's No. 5 seed (and a playoff opener against the NFC East champion) with a win Sunday -- and Arians know that Brady's play is paramount to the team's success.

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"The one thing that we've learned is that no matter what the scoreboard says, we're going to have a chance to win the ballgame."

That's for sure. In Brady's last two weeks, he's led a second-half comeback against the Falcons (sound familiar, Pats fans?) and a demolition of the Lions, where he was taken out at halftime after building a 34-0 lead.

Brady's totals for the last four quarters of play: 43-for-56 (76.8 percent completions), 668 yards, 6 TD, 0 INT, 151.5 QB rating.

So it's not just like having another coach on the field for Arians. It's also having the GOAT playing at the top of his game.

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