Brady rebounds; McCaffrey injured

TAMPA, FLA. » Tom Brady has a dazzling track record of winning, period.

The six- time Super Bowl champion’s perfect when it comes to rebounding from rare season- opening losses during a 21- year career after tasting victory with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the first time on Sunday.

Brady threw for 217 yards, one touchdown and an interception, while getting a lot of help from another acquisition since last season, Leonard Fournette, who came off the bench to rush for 103 yards and two touchdowns.

“Our execution was a little bit better. I think we’re still a long way from where we need to be,” Brady said. “I think if we have the ability to make plays, consistency, dependability are going to be things that we really need. So, we’ve got to get back to work. Clock’s ticking on next week.”

The 43- year- old quarterback also bounced back in Week 2 after dropping openers with the New England Patriots in 2003, 2014 and 2017.

“He has a pretty good history of that,” coach Bruce Arians said. “This game should have never gotten to as close as it did. But I thought he was outstanding. His leadership on the sideline was great, and he put us in the right play with a number of different audibles and played really, really well.”

Brady tossed a 23- yard TD pass to Mike Evans in the first quarter. Fournette scored on runs of 1 and 46 yards, the latter coming after Carolina rallied from a 21- 0 halftime deficit to pull within 24- 17 on a pair of TD runs by Christian McCaffrey and Joey Slye’s 23- yard field goal with 1: 57 remaining.

Four turnovers and nine penalties undermined Carolina’s chances. And, it didn’t help that star running back Christian McCaffrey was slowed — and eventually sidelined for most of the fourth quarter — by what coach Matt Rhule described as a lower leg injury.

“I have no update. He came out in the first quarter, too,” Rhule said.