Tom Brady got his first NFL playoff win with the Buccaneers. His performance didn’t look much different from the massive playoff wins he had for the Patriots.
Tampa Bay took every bit of the GOAT quarterback’s size to survive hosts Washington 31-23 in Saturday night’s NFC wildcard playoff game. In an unlikely duel with Taylor Heinicke and a tough pass rush, Brady had all the answers with every kind of throw.
A year ago Brady fought in the AFC playoffs with a limited Patriots offensive, with a late six stamping his shaky loss to the Titans. The Buccaneers had no questions about his arm or downfield accuracy.
Brady didn’t look nearly 43 when Heinicke, 16 years his junior, kept Washington in the game until the final drive while playing for an injured Alex Smith. Brady wasn’t perfect as he was under a lot of pressure; He took three bags and only completed 55 percent of his pass attempts. But even without completing a close pass, Rob Gronkowski – who had to help protect the pass – delivered great games across the field.
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Washington did their best, but couldn’t stop Brady (22 of 40 passes, 381 yards, two touchdowns, 8.9 yards per try, 104.3 points) from regularly bypassing the onslaught and getting the ball to its elite recipients bring. Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Antonio Brown. While Gronkowski played more in line, Brady simply turned to Cameron Brate to do chunk catches from the tight end.
This gave Leonard Fournette the opportunity to conduct a productive attack. At some point on Saturday there was a perception that Washington’s defense was doing a great job. But in the end, the Bucs scored three touchdowns, four field goals and 507 yards offensive. Brady’s night could have been bigger without the unusual drops from Godwin and others.
Brady plays at a high level, but he also gets great support from the Bucs’ offensive line and the many talents in the skill positions. After a few hiccups during the regular season, he’s now completely merged with offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, reminiscent of his association with Josh McDaniels in New England.
Heinicke was a playmaker apart from an early interception and a few bad balls. We have more dangerous QBs that are Brady’s contemporaries. If form sustained in the NFC playoffs, Brady would next get another shot at Drew Brees and the Saints – who swept the Bucs in the regular season. As the Bucs advance to the NFC Championship game, they’ll face Aaron Rodgers and the Packers, who defeated the Bucs in the regular season.
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The Bucs defense is talented. It consistently stops the run and coordinator Todd Bowles has good pass rushers and solid defenders for his blitz scheme. But when Heinicke took this defense apart, it became clear that there are also many gaps in reporting. So there will continue to be pressure on Brady and the offensive to win highscoring games in the playoffs.
Brady was cheered and cool at the same time on Saturday. He was never unsettled, and while Washington fought a good fight there was no reason to believe that the Bucs weren’t always in full control of the game. On the way, he did some of his classic stunning throws that were perfectly tailored to his recipients.
The buccaneers were dressed in their red and pewter-colored uniforms, trying to trace them back to the magic of their Super Bowl 37 championship. But one could easily be fooled that Brady still wore the red, white, and navy blue of the Patriot teams that won Super Bowls 36, 38, 39, 49, 51, and 53.
Brady left the Patriots because they were no longer the team best suited to get the best out of him. He chose the Bucs wisely, and although it took a while, they became fully his team just before the playoffs.
Now that the Bucs are in the playoffs, they get a very familiar QB – nothing short of a full goat.
