Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Tampa Bay receiver
Antonio Brown, left, caught two passes from quarterback Tom Brady (12), and one was for a 36-yard touchdown in the Buccaneers’ win at Washington.
LANDOVER, Md. — Tom Brady threw for 381 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Tampa Bay Buccaneers past Washington 31-23 in their NFC wild-card game Saturday night for their first playoff victory since the 2002 season.
“If you could win 100-0, it’s going to be the same result in the end,” Brady said. “It’s good to win and advance.”
In his 42nd postseason start and first not in a New England Patriots uniform, Brady made the most of a lack of pressure to carve up the NFL’s second-ranked defense on 22 of 40 passing.
“He is a fighter, he plays hard, works hard and studies hard, and he is the man for the job,” Buccaneers running back Leonard Fournette said.
Brady had to outduel Washington’s Taylor Heinicke, who had a breakout performance in just his second pro start and first in the playoffs in place of injured starter Alex Smith. Heinicke — signed in early December to the practice squad — ran for 46 yards and a touchdown and threw for 306 yards and a score.
“He almost beat us with his legs,” Tampa Bay coach Bruce
Arians said. “He was very elusive. We knew he was going to scramble around, there was going to be bootlegs and scrambles. We were really hoping for Alex because we knew that part of the game wasn’t going to be in there.”
Age doesn’t seem to matter much to Brady, who at 43 years, 159 days passed George Blanda as the oldest player to throw a TD pass in a playoff game. A 36-yard scoring connection with Antonio Brown was Brady’s longest in the playoffs since 2011.
■ Next: Buccaneers at Saints or Rams at Buccaneers, TBA. Washington: season over.