BRADY LEADS LATE BUCS RALLY
A relieved Tom Brady stepped to the podium with a big smile.
“Just like we drew it up,” the seven-time Super Bowl quarterback said after throwing a pair of touchdown passes in the final three minutes Monday night to help the Tampa Bay Buccaneers rally from a 13-point deficit and beat the New Orleans Saints 17-16.
Clearly frustrated and on the verge of being held without a TD pass at home by the Saints for the third straight season, Brady led scoring drives of 91 and 63 yards and helped push the Bucs (6-6) back to .500, tightening the team’s grip on first place in the weak NFC South.
“We’ve had a lot of games come down to the end,“Brady said. “Some we’ve won, some we’ve lost, which is why we’re 6-6. It’s not where we want to be, but we’ll keep fighting.”
The 45-year-old quarterback tossed a 1-yard TD pass to rookie Cade Otton, pulling within 16-10 with exactly three minutes remaining. He got the ball back with 2:29 to go, then won it with a 6-yard throw to another rookie, Rachaad White, with three seconds left.
“They played hard, they showed grit. It was a complete team effort, obviously,” Bucs coach Todd Bowles said. “Defense got the ball back, the offense cashed it in. Got it back one more time, cashed it in one more time.”
The Saints (4-9) swept the season series between the division rivals each of the past two seasons, holding Brady without a TD pass in a 38-3 rout in 2020 and again in a 9-0 road victory in 2021.
Tampa Bay ended a seven-game regular-season losing streak in the series with a 20-10 victory in Week 2, sacking Jameis Winston six times and forcing five turnovers.
Andy Dalton, who didn’t play in the earlier meetings, threw for 225 yards and a touchdown without an interception for New Orleans. But the Saints ultimately paid for having to settle for three field goals by Wil Lutz deep in Bucs territory.
The Bucs rebounded from an overtime loss to Cleveland to extend their division lead over the Falcons to 11⁄2 games.