Hot hand of Brady steers Bucs

Injured thumb doesn’t stop 44-year-old, who starts out 19 of 22. But Sherman is injured.

PHILADELPHIA — Tom Brady threw two touchdown passes, Leonard Fournette ran for two scores and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Philadelphia Eagles 28-22 on Thursday night.

The defending Super Bowl champion Buccaneers (5-1) lost another cornerback when three-time AllPro Richard Sherman left in the first quarter with a hamstring injury, but their depleted defense held on after Jalen Hurts rallied the Eagles from a 28-7 deficit.

Playing with an injured thumb, Brady came out firing. The 44-year-old tossed scoring passes while going 11 for 12 for 121 yards on Tampa Bay’s first two drives.

His best play came after Hurts’ second touchdown run and a two-point conversion pulled Philadelphia within six points with 3:05 left in the fourth quarter.

Facing a third and seven from Philadelphia’s 45, Brady rolled away from pressure and threw a perfect pass to Antonio Brown for a 27-yard gain to extend the drive and the Buccaneers ran out the clock.

Brady finished 34 of 42 for 297 yards and an interception.

The Eagles (2-4) are winless in three home games under rookie coach Nick Sirianni. They heard boos at halftime but fought back to make it close.

Brady was 19 of 22 before missing three straight passes late in the second quarter, including a deep ball intercepted by Anthony Harris that ended his streak of 227 passes without a pick.

The Buccaneers were already missing cornerbacks Carlton Davis and Sean Murphy-Bunting before Sherman went down on Philadelphia’s first drive.