Brady fires 5 TDs to rally Bucs
TAMPA, Fla. — Tom Brady is introducing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a new way of winning.
The six-time Super Bowl champion led a come-from-behind victory for the first time since joining his new team, throwing for 369 yards and five touchdowns to help the Bucs rally from a 17-point deficit to beat the Los Angeles Chargers 38-31 on Sunday.
It’s the 46th time Brady has delivered a winning drive in the fourth-quarter or overtime of a regular-season game — fourth on the NFL behind Peyton Manning (54), Drew Brees (50) and Dan Marino (47). The 43-year-old quarterback has overcome a deficit of 10 or more points to win a league-best 34 times, including postseason.
“Tom, he’s never behind in his mind. We can always make plays to win games,” coach Bruce Arians said.
“How can you not believe in him? He’s the greatest to ever do it,” receiver Scotty Miller said. “We just go in there and follow his lead.”
Brady shrugged off throwing an early interception returned from a touchdown to keep the Bucs (3-1) in first place in the NFC South.
Miller, Mike Evans, O.J. Howard, Cameron Brate and rookie Ke’Shawn Vaughn caught scoring passes from Brady, who threw four of them after the Bucs fell behind 24-7 in the second quarter.
“We knew we had played poorly. It was just a show of character. I can honestly say that if this had been last year, we would have gotten beat by 20,” Arians said. “This team has a ton of character and playmakers and we started making plays. You can see that when we don’t beat ourselves, we’re going to be a tough team to beat.”
Brady completed 30 of 46 passes with one interception and zero sacks. It was the seventh five-TD performance of his career, first since Sept. 24, 2017 for New England against Houston.
“We’ve got to keep building on the confidence in one another because there’s nothing we’re doing out there that’s perfect,” Brady said. “But we’re going to have to keep building on the good things and learn from the bad things.”
Rookie Justin Herbert completed 20 of 25 passes for 290 yards and three touchdowns for the Chargers (1-3), who’ve lost three straight with the sixth overall pick in this year’s draft playing earlier than expected because of injuries to Tyrod Taylor.
Michael Davis intercepted Brady’s sideline throw intended for Justin Watson and returned the ball 73 yards for a first-quarter score and a 14-7 lead that eventually became 24-7.
Then Brady and the Bucs rallied. “We all know his track record. His resume speaks for itself,” Evans said of Brady.