Associated PressTampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians talks to quarterback Tom Brady (12) during an NFL football training camp practice in August. Since then, their relationship is reportedly on the rocks.

There have been two Tom Brady’s in 2020:

There has been “MVP” Tom Brady, or really “Runner-up MVP” Tom Brady to Patrick Mahomes, throwing the ball all over the place to his elite-beyond-belief receivers and tight ends.

And then there is “Jameis Winston” Tom Brady, the guy throwing interceptions that make you go … “What? Where? Why?”

Yup, it’s weird.

Mr. Consistent, all of sudden, is Mr. Flip A Coin.

On paper, this really looked unfair in Tampa Bay. In September it appears the Buccaneers, playing in the NFC, had a clear path to the Super Bowl in, well, Tampa.

The NFC really didn’t have a team that scared you, compared to the AFC’s Big Three of Kansas City, Baltimore and Pittsburgh. San Francisco, Green Bay and New Orleans were possibilities.

Three months later the last team standing in the Semi-Scary Dept. as we enter December are the balanced Saints.

What happened to the Bucs?

They had three proven running backs in Ronald Jones, Leonard Fournette and LeSean McCoy. They had a good defense, maybe even very good with the likes of future Hall of Famer Ndamukong Suh and Jason Pierre Paul on the line and Pro Bowl linebacker Shaquil Barrett, all playmakers, at least on paper. And they basically gave Brady a smorgasbord of weaponry compared to what he had the last year or two in New England in wideouts Chris Godwin and Mike Evans, future Hall of Fame tight end Rob Gronkowski. And, for gluttony, they even added Antonio Brown just over a month ago.

Brady, which he probably got from his former head coach in New England, Bill Belichick, has said it many times before, “We will know what our team is around Thanksgiving.”

Well, the excess turkey meat has run its course, which means time’s up.

The Bucs are 7-5 … and, to put it gently, are leaking oil. They’ve lost three of their last four games, having a lead for only 4 minutes and 4 seconds out of 180 minutes of action.

That never happened in New England, not even last year’s 4-4 finish.

Which brings us to the crux of the problem:

“The Coach and the Quarterback.” To be honest, it feels more like the “Coach vs. the Quarterback.”

Bucs coach Bruce Arians has had a solid career as a head coach, 63-44-1. But he has coached only three playoff games, winning just one.

So this experience of wearing the bull’s-eye is unlike anything he has ever coached before.

When Arians hasn’t been a head coach, he’s always been on the offensive side of the ball since his first gig at Mississippi State in 1978.

His calling card, on offense, has been summed up by Arians, “No risk it, no biscuit.” As a coach he has said, “I’m not a father figure. I’m the cool uncle you’d like to have a drink with.”

Would it be safe to say Arians is 180 degrees away from Brady’s only other head coach?

The Patriots, under Belichick, are run like a military establishment. He sets the tone and everyone else follows, or else, as Brady found out near the end of his long tenure in New England.

There are no cool uncles in the Patriots coaching room.

Brady played his entire career under a coach who was more focused on controlling a game, dictating the pace and attacking weaknesses.

This is different in Tampa. The Bucs are less focused the opposition and control and more focused on themselves.

Brady and the Bucs offense seems less concerned about dominating the line of scrimmage, early in games, instead trying to light up the scoreboard.

How can you blame Arians, after acquiring so much talent on offense?

But Brady doesn’t appear comfortable winging it, throwing 30 and 40 yards downfield so much.

He made his mark in New England focusing on matchups and short passes. Moving the chains was, as boring as it sounds, his forte.

The Patriots most explosive teams, at least with Brady throwing the ball, from 2007 through 2012, was highly successful … in the regular season.

Remember, the Patriots and Brady never won a Super Bowl with Randy Moss, despite shattering the record book.

We’ve also seen some weird press conferences this season out of Tampa in which Brady has taken some verbal hits from the head coach.

Arians told NFL Network’s Michael Silver that “(Brady) picks all of the plays now. We call what (Brady) picks.”

He also said the team has to play better, etc. not throwing Brady under the bus entirely, but the point is something isn’t right.

The Bucs aren’t playing football, at least on offense. They are playing pass-the-ball.

That’s not how Brady became the all-time great he is. When the Bucs run the ball with conviction, and the Bucs aren’t trailing by two touchdowns, Brady has been electric.

Yes, the threat of a running game even helps Brady.

There are only four games left for the Bucs, two with Atlanta (4-7), one with Minnesota (5-6) and another with Detroit (4-7).

It appears to be a good month to figure some things out, especially the relationship between the coach and quarterback.

You can email Bill Burt at bburt@eagletribune.com.