Brady, Bucs lose second in row
LANDOVER, Md. — An exasperated Tom Brady put his hands on his knees and looked down at the field after his second interception in the first quarter.
Hours later, the Buccaneers’ defense couldn’t get off the field late in the fourth with a chance to dig the team out of another hole.
Brady was picked off twice in his first six passes, and the Bucs surrendered a clock-killing, 19-play drive that sealed Washington’s 29-19 upset Sunday.
It was the Bucs’ second consecutive loss spanning their bye week, a performance coach Bruce Arians called ‘‘embarrassing.’’
Meanwhile, Brady — whom several Washington players referred to as the ‘‘GOAT’’ — was one of the goats in the worst way as the Bucs fell to 6-3.
‘‘Not a great day of football for us,’’ said Brady, who was 23-for-34 for 220 yards and two touchdown passes but threw two interceptions, just as he did in the Bucs’ loss to the Saints on Oct. 31. ‘‘We just never really played on our terms. We played from behind the whole game, and they played a good game.’’
The Bucs were dealt an extra blow when nose tackle Vita Vea was carted off with an injury on the final play of the 80-yard drive that consumed nearly 10oe minutes and finished things off for Washington (3-6). Arians didn’t have an update after the game, but he said Vea felt something in one of his knees.
‘‘You just hate to see him keep going down,’’ Bucs linebacker Devin White said. ‘‘If we got him, great. If we don’t, man, I’m gonna miss playing with him for the rest of the season.’’
Washington lost reigning NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Chase Young to an injured right knee in the first half. Young gave a halftime speech to teammates and later was back on the sideline on crutches.
‘‘There’s some concern,’’ Washington coach Ron Rivera said. ‘‘We’ll have him evaluated [Monday].
Potentially an ACL, but we’re not sure yet.’’
The Bucs couldn’t find much of a rhythm on either side of the ball early in a rematch of their wildcard victory in January. Brady’s interceptions — one off the hands of rookie Jaelon Darden and another inexplicable toss that was caught by Washington safety Bobby McCain — threw the NFL’s best scoring and passing offense out of sync.
Brady bounced back in the second half to throw touchdown passes to Cameron Brate and Mike Evans, but the Bucs’ defense couldn’t stop Washington’s offense on the final, clock-draining drive.
Rivera lived up to his ‘‘Riverboat Ron’’ nickname by going for it on fourth-and-goal from the Bucs’ 1-yard line with 31 seconds left, and Antonio Gibson’s second touchdown run of the day put the game out of reach.
Washington quarterback Taylor Heinicke put his stamp on the improbable result much earlier, hooking up with DeAndre Carter for a 20-yard touchdown pass and leading a 71-yard drive in the third quarter. A pass-interference penalty on the Bucs set up Gibson’s first touchdown run.
Heinicke, who earned his contract by impressing in a surprise start against the Bucs in the playoffs last season, was 26-for-32 for 256 yards and managed the game like a veteran on the final drive.
‘‘That was a grown-man drive,’’ Carter said. ‘‘Biggest drive of our season.’’