Brady, Bucs stun Packers to reach Super Bowl
Keeping an eye on the world of sports during the pandemic:
Tom Brady, along with the Buccaneers’ road magic, has them heading home to the Super Bowl, the first team to play in one on their home field.
Brady owns six Super Bowl rings with the Patriots and now heads to his 10th NFL championship game with his new team. With help from a stifling pass rush and a curious late call on fourth-and-goal by the Packers, Brady and the Bucs beat the top-seeded Packers 31-26 for the NFC title Sunday in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
“It’s great to get another road win, and now we got a home game,” said Brady, who went 20 of 36 for 280 yards with three TDs. “Who’d ever thought a home Super Bowl for us? But we did it.”
The AFC championship game ended too late for this edition.
The Bucs (14-5) earned their franchise-record eighth consecutive road victory to reach the Super Bowl for the first time since their 2002 championship season.
They were helped by a strange decision by Packers coach Matt LaFleur with just over two minutes remaining and down by eight points. On fourth-and-goal, he elected to kick a field goal to get within five. The Bucs then ran out the clock on the Packers (14-4).
The Super Bowl is Feb. 7 at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium on Feb. 7.
“We’re coming home,” said Bucs coach Bruce Arians, who began his coaching career in 1975 at Texas Tech and will make his first trip to the Super Bowl as a head coach. “We’re coming home to win.”
The Packers trailed 31-23 and had first-and-goal from the 8 in the last few minutes. But after Aaron Rodgers threw three straight incompletions, the Packers settled for Mason Crosby’s 26-yard field goal with 2:05 left.
The Packers had all three timeouts left and were hoping their defense could force a punt.
The Bucs foiled that plan, draining the rest of the clock, helped by a pass interference penalty on Kevin King.
The Packers got back in the game during the second half as Brady threw interceptions on three straight drives for just the second time in his career.