Tampa, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Buccaneers Overcome a double-digit deficit to beat Carolina Newspaper 30-24 Sunday, won NFC South for the second year in a row and hit brave cattickets to the knockout stages for the 14th consecutive season and coach Todd Bowles as head coach of the Buccaneers for the first time.
Almost lost his voice and eager to pass praise on to his teammates, Brady confided: “I feel like the luckiest person in the world.”
The player wears a red shirt that reads “CONQUER THE SOUTH.” Except for the wide receiver Mike Evans. He had one of the best games of his career with 10 catches for 207 yards receiving the ball and 3 touchdowns and rocking the classic Carolina blue jersey Michael Jordan North Carolina Tar Heels jersey, given to him by his teammates Chris Godwin during the team’s Secret Santa meeting last week.
And Bowles, who joked, “My heart doesn’t have much more” after all those comebacks, said he plans to celebrate unlike his predecessor Bruce Arians with a bottle of Crown Royal ( Arians are introduced on Sunday (Buccaneers Ring of Honor), but with a glass of 1% milk and cookies.
Bowles said of his team: “They weren’t discouraged and they weren’t disgusted. “We’ve been through a lot this year, so we have a lot of resilience and strength, so we’re not discouraged when we’re falling in terms of points. They tried, they did. were together as a team and they made it through.”
The Bucs didn’t come back after suffering a 14-point or more deficit during a season marred by slow starts and a non-existent vertical passing game. And Brady and Mike Evans’ unbeaten streak grew to 11 – the longest record in the Bucs franchise leader’s career.
But after going 14-0 on Sunday, three touchdown passes from Brady to Evans and three defensive turns made the difference.
“Tom just dropped a dime,” said Evans, who rarely sees one in the news but did so on Sunday, while the offensive line had one of the best games to defend Brady all season. season, giving him more throwing time and Evans more time getting off the field. “It’s some really, really good balls. It’s one of the best games I’ve seen Tom play since he’s been here.
“Every time they fell right into my… breadbasket. He had an unbelievable game.”
Brady said of Evans, “I loved playing there with him and he’s a great player — I’ve missed him so many times this year, so it’s been great to connect with him and hopefully I hope we can keep doing that. I think we will.”
The first touchdown was a 63-yard runner sent by air to Evans. The score helped Evans receive 1,000 yards for the ninth straight season, second in NFL history with Tim Brown and behind only Jerry Rice. That touchdown completely changed the dynamics with a 2:18 score in the first half.
“I told him during the game – he was that guy,” Godwin said of Evans. “He barely gets the respect he deserves, so whenever I get a chance I’ll speak for him because I know he won’t. Mike is a dog, man. Every time he’s out there, he’s capable of something like that. It’s an honor for me to play next to a guy like that.”
outside defender White Devin restore one Sam Darnold fumbled at Carolina’s 17-yard line shortly after, and the Bucs took the Panthers’ 14-10 lead with a 22-yard goal from Ryan Succop.
corner kick Sean Murphy-Bunting intercepted Darnold at Tampa Bay 2 in the Panthers’ first drive of the second half, but on the Bucs’ next drive, Succop’s 26-yard attempt was blocked by CJ Henderson.
The Bucs fell into a 21-10 deficit after Darnold made an encounter attack Shi Smith to open the fourth quarter. But Brady responded immediately with a 57-yard throw for Evans – marking the first time since 2016, the 45-year-old QB made two touchdowns at 50 yards in the same game. The score was followed by an unsuccessful two-point conversion, giving the Panthers a 21-16 lead with 13:49.
Brady still hadn’t completed his receiver search, as he connected with Evans 30 yards on their third touchdown to give the Bucs the lead with 6:47 remaining. A successful 2-point pass to Chris Godwin put Tampa Bay ahead 24-21.
A sack by the outer linebacker Anthony Nelson cause a mess which is then restored by defensive handling Vita Veaset what will be a touchdown by Leonard Fournette, although it was dropped from the table after it was ruled that he was one yard short. That’s when Brady made a sneak attack from the midfield with two minutes remaining, causing “Brady! Brady! Brady!” chants from the crowd.
“It’s almost like a sick joke because you’re just sitting on the sidelines at 14-0 and you say, ‘(Number) 12 will do something. He’s going to figure it out,'” Nelson said. speak. “And in the end, maybe not that half, but the next one — he started making a couple of plays, so it was a draw, it was a close game again and that really motivated us. defensively because we know, even if it’s 14-0, if we can hold them off, (Number) 12 and offense will put us back in the game.”
Carolina scored another goal with 59 seconds left to make it 30-24, and the Bucs almost avoided disaster if it weren’t for the quick thinking of the batting rookie. Jake Camardawho recovered a low snap hit the ground, shoved it in and ran with it and hit the ball 41 yards instead of just falling on it, which would give the Panthers the top spot at the Bucs ’40. Instead, the Bucs were flagged for an ineligible kick off the field, and Camarda made a 41-yard throw in the next play.
“I’ve never seen a hitter play such a sport,” says Bowles. “He did a great job down there.”
Sunday marked the Bucs’ first win in eight games this season in which they have lost to opponents by 20 points or more.
Brady and the Bucs still have a game at the end Atlanta Falcon next week, but their playoff spot is solidified no matter what. By winning the tournament, they will host the first round of the knockout round, playing against either team. Philadelphia Eagles or dalas cowboy.
No decision has yet been made on whether Brady will play next week in order to avoid unnecessary risk, but Brady has indicated he wants to.
“It’s always up to the Coach, but yes, (not playing) would bother me. I haven’t missed a game other than the ACL (injury)… and then in 2016 I quit. missed the first four games. Besides, I’ve played them all,” Brady said, referring to his four-game suspension after an NFL investigation determined he was “at least generally aware. ” about New England Patriots football deflated last season.
After a long silence, he smiled and said, “I was polite there,” to the room full of reporters bursting into laughter. “It takes a lot for me to be polite.”
