NFL

'Just like we drew it up' - Brady adds another game-winning drive to his record in Buccaneers win

By Sports Desk December 06, 2022

Tom Brady added to his own NFL record for career game-winning drives, pulling another rabbit out of his hat to deliver an unlikely 17-16 win against the New Orleans Saints on Monday.

Brady's Bucs had only mustered three points in the first 55 minutes of the 60-minute contest, but produced two clutch touchdown drives late in the fourth quarter to salvage a gutsy win.

He delivered the first touchdown pass to Cade Otton with three minutes remaining, and after getting the ball back 30 seconds later, the two-and-a-half minutes on the clock was more than enough to march down again and find Rachaad White with three seconds to spare.

Brady now has 56 game-winning drives in his career, two more than Peyton Manning in second-place.

It was a crucial win for the Buccaneers, who are now 6-6 and one game clear atop the insipid NFC South.

After the victory, Brady reflected on the rollercoaster of emotions after his initial game-winning touchdown pass to Chris Godwin was negated by a holding penalty.

"Just like we drew it up," he said with tongue-in-cheek to open his press conference.

"It was great. Great route by Rachaad, great catch. [Offensive coordinator] Byron [Leftwich] made a great call. 

"We thought we threw the touchdown to Chris – I thought I threw it in a quarter-second. I was like 'how was there a hold? I caught it and threw it'.

"That put us back to the 15 [yard line], but we still found a way. It was a great team win.

"We've been pretty good in no-huddle and two-minute drills. A lot of games come down to those type of plays – and our guys made them. Our guys made the plays this week."

Since arriving in Tampa Bay ahead of the 2020-21 season, Brady has faced the Saints three times at home, and this is both the first win, and the first time the Buccaneers have been able to score a touchdown in any of those games.

"They're a hard team to beat, and I'm glad we won," he said. "They've got a great defense, they played us very physical, like we thought. 

"We made some mistakes in there, but we made enough plays in the end to win.

"I wish we could score more points against them, they make it really hard. They've got a really good scheme, really good players, they cover well, rush well, really good linebackers.

"Tough game, but a great win."

Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles was thrilled with the result, pointing to his team's "guts".

"They showed guts, they showed grit and they played well together," he said. "It was a complete team effort. 

"The defense got the ball back, the offense cashed it in. We got it back one more time, they cashed it in one more time. It was a good team effort."

Next up on their schedule is the San Francisco 49ers, who present a golden opportunity for a win since it will be the first start at quarterback for third-stringer Brock Purdy after Jimmy Garoppolo's season-ending injury on Sunday.

Brady played his last college game at Michigan four days after Purdy was born.

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