TAMPA, Fla. – As bad as the Bucs were looking on offense, you can not count out 45-year-old quarterback Tom Brady. Brady led the Bucs to a 17-16 win over the Saints with two touchdown passes in the final three minutes.
“Just like we drew it up,” Brady said jokingly. “It was a great team win.
The Bucs looked good in their first series going 72 yards in 16 plays, and eating up more than 8 minutes on the clock, but had to settle for a Ryan Succop field goal to take a 3-0 lead over the Saints. That was the last time the Bucs had the lead until the Brady comeback.
“We’ve had a lot of games come down to the end,” Brady said. “Some we’ve won. Some we’ve lost, and we’re 6-6. We’re not where we want to be, but we’ll keep fighting.”
The Tom Brady-led Buccaneer offense couldn’t get into synch until the last three minutes. The Bucs’ defense had a miscommunication in the secondary a couple of times in the game, but in the end the Bucs got a sweep of the Saints.
“It’s a relief in that we beat them twice in one year.,” said Bucs head coach Todd Bowles. “.The other five games we have coming up are going to be just as exciting.”
Saints Andy Dalton hit Taysom Hill on a 30 yards scoring strike in the second quarter to take a 7-3 lead. After a Will Lutz 38-yard field goal, the Saints went into the locker room at halftime up 10–3. Lutz added two more 2nd half-field goals, and it was looking like the Saints were going to pull off the upset.
Dalton threw for 225 yards and a touchdown without an interception, but it wasn’t enough. The Saints had a chance to close it out and couldn’t get it done. Bucs wide receiver Mike Evans said he never doubted the outcome, mostly because of Brady.
“He (Tom Brady) gets better in those moments,” Evans said. “It’s crazy. Like usual, before he got here, we were on the other side of those. Teams come back on us. Now, with him, we’ve been on the good side of those more often than not; it’s great to have a guy like Tom.”
At 6-6, the Bucs increase their lead over the Atlanta Falcons in the NFC South by 1 1/2 games. Tampa Bay travels to San Francisco Sunday to take on a hot 49ers team that will be without their starting quarterback Jimmy Garrapolo.
The Saints have a bye.
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