The G.O.A.T has done it once again. Tom Brady has saved the Bucs from a humiliating loss to the New Orleans Saints by scoring two touchdowns in three minutes to win the game 17-16.
Watching the Buccaneers play football has becoming torturous. It is the same story game after game after game with this team as they fail at the same things ALL THE TIME!
Once again, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers proved that they have the worst running game in the league by a country mile as they only managed to gain 76 total rushing yards, which is the 10th time they have failed to gain 100 total yards in a game. Oh, and this last game was the Bucs 12th on the year.
So, in other words, the Bucs rushing attack has only gained a combined total of 100+ rushing yards in just 17% of their games this season. That’s horrific!
Obviously, both Lenny Fornette (10 CAR, 49 yards) and Rachaad White (9 CAR, 28 yards) had horrible games as they provided the Bucs offense absolutely nothing. They weren’t able to give Brady’s arm some relief by running the ball as they only carried it a combine 19 times, while they were also ineffective in the passing game as each player finished the game with under 50 yards receiving.
Plus, White turned the ball over that directly led to a Saints field goal.
After the Seattle game a few weeks ago, I thought that White may have had a chance of becoming the full-time starter on this team, but now I see that was far too optimistic. Sure, the Bucs O-Line has been really banged up this season with Tristian Wirfs inactive tonight, but it’s still not excuse for how bad this running attack has been.
To have only two games of rushing for more than 100 total team rushing yards is not only humiliating, but it also grounds for being cut after the season.
If White and Fornette make it on Tampa’s roster next season, I’d be shocked. That’s how bad these two have been. And, yes, I don’t care that White scored the game winning TD as anyone could have caught that pass and ran two yards into the endzone.
Anyway, like I said in the title, Tom Brady worked his G.O.A.T. magic to snatch this game away from the New Orleans Saints.
Completing 36/54 passes for 281 yards, 2 TDs, and 1 INT, Brady actually was missing a lot of open throws early on in the contest. He missed a wide-open Julio Jones down the right sideline which would have given the Bucs a walk-in TD and a 10-7 lead, while he also threw a bad pick right to Demario Davis that led to another Saints field goal.
Despite Dana White nonsensically praising Brady on the Manning Cast, the Bucs QB did not have a good game…until the 4th Quarter. But I’ll get to that in a second.
To be honest, everything about the Bucs offense was off last night…which is something I’ve said a lot about this team this season. Again, I understand that the Bucs were missing Ryan Jensen, Tristian Wirfs to injury, but the way this offense has been playing this year is a symptom of the manner the Bucs management has built this team.
They spent heavily on worn down but experienced veterans, while also spending even more on their battered and aging stars to keep them for another Super Bowl run. We saw last season that the Bucs just didn’t have enough gas left in the tank to overcome the LA Rams in the NFC Divisional game, and this season has proved it.
Mike Evans again dropped some key passes last night as he only finished the game with 4 REC for 59 yards, Julio Jones needs to call it a career as he finished with 3 REC for 38 yards (though he did have one hell of a snag on that final drive), and Chris Godwin was floating in and out of the game (again) even though he had 8 catches for 63 yards.
The Bucs need a young, healthy, and hungry wide out to compliment Tom Brady, not more aged, broken veterans well past their prime.
As for the Bucs defense, they actually had another really good game as Lavonte David (12 tackles, 1 sack, 2 TFL, 1 QB hit) and Devin White (5 tackles) were monsters in the middle of the field again. These two have completely turned around their poor play earlier in the year as they have anchored this Bucs defense back into being one of the league’s best.
Sure, they were only up against the legendary Red Rifle otherwise known as Andy Dalton and the Saints tepid offense, but it’s still impressive they held them to under 300 total yards of offense and 16 points. Todd Bowles may be a suspect head coach, yet it can’t be denied that he is a genius on the defensive side of the ball.
Nonetheless, as for the final three minutes of the game, I have to say that the Saints defense pretty much collapsed. Yes, Tom Brady was brilliant as he was picking apart the secondary on his way to score three touchdowns (one was called back) in under three minutes, but it has to be said that the Saints utterly folded under the pressure.
How do you give up two TD drives in 3 minutes after only allowing 3 points in 57 minutes?
And that was actually pretty surprising as the Saints D was not only really effective against Brady in that game yesterday, but they also have won the last three games in Tampa Bay against Brady’s Bucs. Regardless, Brady was his calm and composed self as he drove the ball 58 yards in a little over 2 minutes to set up a 2-yard TD pass to Rachaad White to score an almost-walk off game winner.
Even though Brady and his offense has been shaky all season long, you can’t deny that he still has his magic touch on game winning drives as this latest one now puts him at 44 for his career. Oh, and just for a comparison, that’s the most in NFL history since the 1970 AFL and NFL merger.
The guy is a winner. Period.
Still, this win doesn’t prove to anyone that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-6) are anything to be feared come the playoffs. They’ll win the NFC South but will get bounced by the Cowboys or Giants in the Wild Card round.
As for the Saints (4-9), this team just needs a good old rebuild to reset the culture of the organization. Sean Payton and Drew Brees are gone, and so should also the relics of their storied history.
Images Source: Featured Image:
