Keith Butler Explains Why It Was So Exhausting To Defend Tom Brady

The Pittsburgh Steelers had a long, ugly history against the greatest football player of all time, Tom Brady. Brady beat the Steelers 12 times in his career, including a 3-0 record against Pittsburgh in AFC Championship games.

In a world without Tom Brady, Roethlisberger more than likely reaches another Super Bowl or two, especially during the “Killer B’s” era in the mid-2010s. But Brady was around for a while, and no matter how sensational the Steelers’ defense was, they always struggled to defend Brady and the Patriots. Brady went 9-3 against the Steelers during his time in New England and 9-4 overall.

Former Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler joined the Talegate Podcast with Al Blanton on Friday to discuss his long football career, and he provided some insight into the difficulties of playing against Brady.

“[Tom Brady] was a very smart football player. They gave him a lot of opportunities to check at the line of scrimmage…Brady always did a good job of his pre-snap read. He always tried to go on different counts. What you do with a safety is you try to hold them in a certain position until right before the snap, and then they have to get to where they have to get to. [Brady] would make you show him what you’re doing before you did that.”

It’s well known that Tom Brady operated an offense like a genius military tactician. Before every snap, he was able to read a defense like no other quarterback, evaluating potential weaknesses and holes in the formation that he could exploit. To the casual fan, it often looked like a bunch of easy check-down passes, which they might credit to the play calling of the offensive coordinator rather than the pre-snap reads of Brady.

But Keith Butler was able to witness Brady’s unique abilities firsthand as the Steelers’ linebackers coach from 2003-14 and the defensive coordinator from 2015-21. Football, many other team sports, is a chess match between the offense and defense, with each side trying to get the other to reveal their next move. As Butler said, Brady was consistently able to expose a defense’s true formation by getting the safeties to move before the snap. His pre-snap checks, varied cadences, and usage of motions were all ploys to get the safeties to show their hand before the play started. From there, making the right read was as easy as quarterbacking in a backyard football game for Brady.

Over the past 5-10 years, the quarterback position has drastically changed. Some critics have pointed out the lack of Tom Brady or Peyton Manning-style tacticians at the position. Guys with the expert ability to process the game, and pick apart defenses on long drives while primarily sitting in the pocket. Instead, the QB position is trending toward freak athletes, with the running ability of players like Lamar Jackson and Jayden Daniels, or the arm strength and talent of Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen.

Some of the truly elite quarterbacks are also great processors. Cincinnati Bengals star Joe Burrow might be the best current example. But it’s not quite as common for young quarterbacks to showcase those abilities.

For the Pittsburgh Steelers this season, Aaron Rodgers will have the chance to show what 20 years of NFL experience has taught him as far as reading defenses. His ridiculous arm talent might not be what it once was, but his knowledge of the game and what defenses are trying to do is still as good as any QB in the league. He’ll have the chance to get some minor revenge for Steelers fans used to watching their defense get carved up by Brady when they face the New England Patriots in Week 3.