TAMPA, Fla. – First things, first. Tom Brady passed for 399 yards and four touchdowns as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ ran away from the Atlanta Falcons, 44-27, on Sunday to secure an 11-5 record and the fifth seed in the NFC Playoffs which start next weekend.
The Buccaneers played without injured cornerback Carlton Davis and without linebackers Shaq Barrett and Devin White who were in COVID-19 protocol.
Aside from taking care of the most important thing in getting a win, it was a Sunday afternoon where greatness rained down on the Buccaneers after such a somber silence in Raymond James Stadium over the past 13 seasons.
Wide receiver Mike Evans was headed for a big afternoon as he had three catches for 46 yards the first quarter, but when he dropped a touchdown pass in the end zone, he came down wrong on the turf and his knee buckled because of the slickness in the end zone.
Evans was out for the rest of the afternoon with what was termed as a knee injury. After the game, head coach Bruce Arians was optimistic about the potential of the prognosis.
“The turf was really slick in the end zones and it was just a freaky thing,” said Arians. “Knock on wood – we don’t think there’s any serious damage.”
The slickness came from the field at Raymond James Stadium being used for yesterday’s Outback Bowl where Ole Miss shaded Indiana, 26-20.
Evans had set an NFL record one play earlier as he went over 1,000 yards receiving for the seventh consecutive season as he caught an 11-yard pass in break 1,000 yards.
“He breaks the record and that’s something that – a guy being here for four years and watching him close in on that – I was so proud of just the man that Mike is and the way he works, so I think that is really awesome,” said wide receiver Chris Godwin. “Then, next play he goes down. It hurts – I feel for my brother – but I’m hoping he makes a speedy recovery.”
Quarterback Tom Brady continued to add to all of his milestones as he threw four touchdown passes, two each to Antonio Godwin and Brown. Brady threw 40 touchdown passes on the season for only the second time in his career.
He also broke another record in that the 40 touchdown passes were the most by any quarterback in his first year with a team. Peyton Manning owned the record with 37 for Denver in 2012.
“I envisioned 40,” said Arians. “When he first signed I said, ‘OK, we’ll be a 40-touchdown and 10-interception team.’ I was expecting practice; I was expecting OTAs and those things. What he’s done with none of that – especially this last half of the season – is incredible.”
Brown also had a coming out party as a Buccaneers with his 11 catches for 138 yards. He and Godwin had catches on back-to-back drives in the fourth quarter to help Tampa Bay stretch a 30-27 lead to a more impressive 44-27 margin.
Atlanta kept fighting back as the Buccaneers built a 20-3 lead midway through the second quarter after Brady opened the game with a 29-yard touchdown pass to Godwin. He then found Brown on the third drive from 25 yards.
The Falcons cut the margin to three point twice, the last time when Matt Ryan hit Hayden Hurst on a 1-yard touchdown pass with 8:19 left in the game cutting the score to 30-27.
“Way, way more confident – especially offensively,” Arians commented. “We’ve got a good grasp of what we’re doing offensively. I’m not sure how many times we’ve punted since the second half of the first Atlanta game, but Atlanta’s a quality football team.”
The Buccaneers didn’t punt at all on Sunday as they scored on every drive except when Ricardo Allen picked off Brady in the third quarter.
