Seven-time Super Bowl winner Tom Brady worked his magic again on Monday, firing a touchdown pass to Rachaad White in the waning seconds to lift Tampa Bay to a 17-16 NFL victory over New Orleans.
Brady authored the 44th fourth-quarter comeback win of his career, the most in NFL history as he broke a tie with Peyton Manning.
Struggling offensively in the first three quarters, Tampa Bay turned it on in the fourth as Brady connected on 15 of 21 passes for 125 yards and two touchdowns in the period.
On a third-and-goal play with three seconds remaining Brady hit White with a six-yard scoring pass, with Ryan Succop’s extra point clinching the victory.
The Bucs were trailing 16-3 when Brady hit Cade Otton with a one-yard touchdown toss with three minutes remaining.
Tampa Bay thought they had another TD with 16 seconds left, but it was disallowed because of a holding penalty.
Once again, however, Brady came through as the NFC South division leading Bucs improved to 6-6.
Brady’s statement
“It’s awesome by our team,” he said. “It’s a great effort by the defense to hang in there all day.
“I missed some throws early, but (I’m) really proud of our team for hanging in there against a team we’ve always struggled with.
“Good to get a win at home,” he stated, who completed 36 of 54 passing attempts for 281 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.
Saints quarterback Andy Dalton completed 20 passes for 229 yards with a 30-yard touchdown pass to Taysom Hill.
But the Saints were frustrated in the red zone, settling for three Wil Lutz field goals.
Tom Brady threw for three touchdowns and ran for another to lift Tampa Bay into the NFL playoffs on Sunday while the New York Giants also booked a post-season berth.
Seven-time Super Bowl champion Brady, 45, completed 34 of 45 passes for 432 yards and scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with 1:58 remaining as the Buccaneers beat Carolina 30-24.
Mike Evans made 10 catches for 207 yards — including touchdown grabs of 30, 57 and 63 yards from Brady — and the Bucs (8-8) took the NFC South crown for Brady’s 19th career division title.
Brady’s statement
“It felt great. Happy to win the division,” Brady said. “Really proud of our guys. We battled through a lot of tough things this year.”
Bucs punter Jake Camarda grabbed a bad snap and managed a kick in the dying seconds to avoid giving Carolina the ball with great field position, saving the triumph.
“Wish they wouldn’t be as exciting as we made them but happy we got the win,” Brady said. “Nice to qualify. We’ll try to finish strong.”
The Giants reached the playoffs for the first time since the 2016 season thanks to a 38-10 home victory over Indianapolis.
Daniel Jones threw for 177 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 91 yards and another two scores to seal a wildcard spot for the Giants (9-6-1).
The Philadelphia Eagles (13-3) squandered a chance to capture the NFC top seed — and a first-round bye plus home-field edge — for the second week in a row with a 20-10 home loss to New Orleans.
The Saints (7-9) sacked Gardner Minshew, filling in for injured Jalen Hurts, six times and got a 12-yard interception return touchdown from Marshon Lattimore.
“Our defense did a phenomenal job,” Saints defender Cameron Jordan said.
Buffalo (12-3), which plays at Cincinnati on Monday, was overtaken for the top AFC spot when Kansas city edged visiting Denver 27-24.
Patrick Mahomes threw for 328 yards and three touchdowns for the Chiefs (13-3).
The Miami Dolphins, playing without concussion-sidelined quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, suffered a 23-21 defeat at New England.
Miami’s fifth straight loss came after Tagovailoa’s replacement, Teddy Bridgewater, exited with a finger injury.
Mac Jones threw for 203 yards and two touchdowns to spark the Patriots, who matched Miami at 8-8 and could make the playoffs by winning next week at Buffalo.
Lions rout Bears
Washington (7-8-1) dropped a 24-10 home contest against Cleveland as Deshaun Watson threw three touchdown passes for the Browns (7-9).
Detroit (8-8) moved ahead of Washington in the playoff fight by routing Chicago 41-10 as Jared Goff threw for 255 yards and three touchdowns and Jamaal Williams ran 22 times for 144 and a touchdown.
Green Bay reached 8-8 with a 41-17 home rout of Minnesota and the Packers, who started 4-8, will reach the playoffs if they win at home over Detroit next Sunday.
“A lot of things have gone our way,” Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. “I knew we’d figure it out at some point.”
Buffalo, Kansas City, Cincinnati, Baltimore and the Los Angeles Chargers had already clinched AFC playoff berths.
Philadelphia, Minnesota, Dallas and San Francisco had already secured NFC post-season spots.
Three vacant playoff berths remain and Jacksonville has the inside track for one after a fourth straight victory, stomping host Houston 31-3.
Jacksonville (8-8) can claim the AFC South division title by winning at home next week over Tennessee (7-9), losers of six straight.
South Korean Koo Young-hoe kicked a 21-yard last-play field goal to give Atlanta a 20-19 win over Arizona while Geno Smith’s two touchdown passes sparked Seattle over the eliminated New York Jets 23-6.
Justin Herbert threw two touchdown passes and Austin Ekeler ran for 122 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Los Angeles Chargers over the LA Rams 31-10.
Robbie Gould’s 23-yard overtime field goal gave San Francisco a 37-34 victory at Las Vegas.
Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were sent crashing out of the NFL playoffs on Monday as a rampant Dallas Cowboys advanced with a comprehensive 31-14 victory.
Seven-time Super Bowl champion Brady — whose future remains shrouded in uncertainty — cut a miserable figure as his 23rd season came to an abrupt end.
The 45-year-old quarterback, who announced his retirement from the sport last year only to reverse the decision 40 days later, was never able to generate momentum for a lackluster Buccaneers offense.
Instead, it was the Cowboys, led by quarterback Dak Prescott, who dominated throughout to set up a divisional-round playoff clash with the San Francisco 49ers in California next Sunday.
Brady’s solid reputation
Brady had never lost against the Cowboys in seven previous meetings, but the chances of that record being extended on Monday always looked slim.
The only negative for the Cowboys was the form of kicker Brett Maher, who claimed an unwanted piece of NFL history by missing four straight extra point attempts.
The 33-year-old is the first player in NFL history to miss four extra points in a single game.
Maher made 50 of 53 extra points during the regular season, but his form collapsed bizarrely at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium.
Fortunately for the Cowboys, Maher’s problems in front of the posts were moot, as Prescott and the Dallas offense set about dismantling the Buccaneers’ defense.
Prescott threw four touchdowns and finished with 305 passing yards from 25 of 33 completions.
The 29-year-old connected with tight end Dalton Schultz for a 22-yard completion for the opening touchdown in the first quarter to cap a seven-play 80-yard drive.
Prescott then cleverly scampered over for the second Dallas touchdown, faking a hand-off before sprinting into the endzone unopposed in the second quarter.
Prescott found Schultz for the tight end’s second touchdown of the night to make it 18-0 at half-time.
Michael Gallup collected a two-yard pass from Prescott for Dallas’s fourth touchdown to make it 24-0 in the third quarter, and despite Maher’s problems with the boot, there was to be no way back for Brady and the Buccaneers.
Brady showed a flicker of his old self late in the third quarter with a superbly flighted 30-yard pass to find Julio Jones for a touchdown that made it 24-6.
But Dallas responded emphatically at the start of the fourth quarter with their fifth touchdown of the night.
Dallas coach Mike McCarthy spurned the chance to give Maher a field goal attempt on a 4th&4 and instead Prescott tossed a touchdown pass to a wide-open CeeDee Lamb.
Maher finally drilled an extra point to make it 31-6.
Play was interrupted late in the fourth quarter after an apparent neck injury to Bucs receiver Russell Gage, before Brady connected with Cameron Brate for a second touchdown. A successful two-point conversion made it 31-14.
Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers fell to a shock 21-3 loss to the unfancied Carolina Panthers while Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers suffered a third straight defeat with a 23-21 loss at Washington in the NFL on Sunday.
The results leave the two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks with losing records after seven games, with both Tampa Bay and Green Bay on 3-4.
The Panthers traded their main offensive talent, running back Christian McCaffrey, to the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday and came into the clash as heavy underdogs.
But Carolina nullified seven-time Super Bowl champion Brady and the Buccaneers’ offense in an impressive display.
Brady was 32-of-49 for 290 yards as the 45-year-old’s Bucs suffered a fourth loss, leaving the former New England Patriots star in the worst position he has found himself in at this stage in a season for 20 years.
Tom Brady’s Frustration
While Brady was frustrated by a resilient Panthers defense, his opposite number, former XFL quarterback P.J. Walker, deputising for the injured Baker Mayfield, delivered a first win for Panthers interim coach Steve Wilks.
Walker found D.J. Moore at the back of the end zone with a 20-yard pass to give the Panthers the lead in the second quarter and Chuba Hubbard’s 17-yard touchdown run made it 14-0 in the third.
All the Bucs could manage was a 27-yard field goal from Ryan Succop in the fourth before Walker delivered again, finding Tommy Tremble with a 29-yard touchdown pass to secure the victory.
“I think we all just need to do our job better. There’s no easy way about it,” said Brady.
“Anytime you score three points, that pretty much sums it up. We’re plenty capable of making plays, we’re just not making them consistently enough to score points. We make a big play, make a bad play, make a big play, make a bad play. In football that’s just not good enough. You can’t play like that,” Brady added.
Rodgers also found himself beaten by a backup quarterback, as Taylor Heinicke and the Commanders came from behind for a narrow win.
A four-yard pass from Rodgers to Aaron Jones gave the Packers a first-quarter lead and they extended that to 14-3 with De’Vondre Campbell’s 63-yard interception return early in the second.
But Heinicke started the comeback with a nine-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Gibson, trimming the half-time deficit to 14-10, and then put Washington ahead thanks to a superb 37-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Terry McLaurin.
Rodgers ‘not worried’
Two field goals for Washington gave them a nine-point lead before Rodgers again connected with Jones to make it a two-point game.
To add to his disappointment, it was Rodgers who threw a lateral out of bounds in the desperate final play of the game.
Despite the setback, 38-year-old Rodgers said he wasn’t overly concerned about the team’s form, believing they would bounce back strongly.
“I’m not worried about this squad. In fact, this might be the best thing for us,” he said.
The leading quarterback of a younger generation, Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs, offered another example of his quality, recovering from an interception on the team’s first drive in a 44-23 win over the San Francisco 49ers.
Mahomes threw for 423 yards and three touchdowns in the rematch of the 2019 season Super Bowl.
Chiefs receiver Mecole Hardman had a stellar day with three touchdowns — two rushing and one eight yard catch.
It was also a good day for returning Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott, who led the Cowboys over Detroit 24-6 in his first appearance since a thumb injury in week one. The Cowboys are 5-2 while the Lions fell to 1-5.
Prescott finished with 207 passing yards and one touchdown in 25 attempts, completing 19 of them as Dallas relied primarily on their defense and running game.
The Seattle Seahawks (4-3) took over top spot in the NFC West with rookie running back Kenneth Walker III powering to two touchdowns and 168 yards on 23 carries in a 37-23 win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
The New York Giants claimed their fourth straight victory with a 23-17 triumph over the Jacksonville Jaguars, with quarterback Daniel Jones finishing with a career-high 107 rushing yards on 11 carries as well as throwing for 202 yards.
The Tennessee Titans remained in charge of the AFC South division after beating the Indianapolis Colts 19-10.
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The Minnesota Viking’s Kirk Cousins threw for 265 yards and two touchdowns in a triumphant NFL return to Washington on Sunday while the Buffalo Bills were upset by the New York Jets.
Cousins, who spent six largely frustrating NFL seasons with Washington before joining the Vikings in 2018, sparked Minnesota over the Commanders 20-17.
“I knew I was going to be emotional pulling in, seeing the player parking lot where we used to hang out. I about shed a tear,” Cousins said.
“But we had a job to do, and we got the job done.”
The Vikings on the rise
The Vikings, who trailed 17-7 in the fourth quarter, improved to 7-1 overall — their best start since 2009 — and stretched their win streak to six games, each victory coming by eight points or less.
“We feel like we’re using too many of our lives right now. We need to win a little more convincingly,” Cousins said. “We’ve got to find ways to win a little better. We’ve got to play a little better.
“But I’d much rather have these conversations in the meeting room tomorrow after a win.”
Cousins completed 22 of 40 passes, including touchdown tosses of nine yards to Justin Jefferson and 12 yards to Dalvin Cook, and guided a six-minute drive to set up Greg Joseph’s winning field goal with 12 seconds remaining.
“We’re finding ways to win,” Cousins said. “We’re finding the inches. We grind on them and keep trying to pull them out at the end.”
At New York, the Jets drove 86 yards to set up Greg Zuerlein’s 28-yard game-winning field goal with 1:43 remaining to beat Buffalo 20-17 for their best start in 12 years.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen ran for two touchdowns but Jets defenders stifled the NFL’s top offensive unit as Buffalo fell to 6-2, still ahead of the Jets (6-3) atop the AFC East division.
Miami improved to 6-3 in the AFC East as Tua Tagovailoa threw for 302 yards and three touchdowns in the Dolphins’ 35-32 victory at Chicago.
Chicago’s Justin Fields, who had three touchdown passes and a touchdown run in a losing cause, ran for 178 yards to set an NFL one-game regular-season record for quarterbacks, five more than Michael Vick’s old mark from 2002.
AFC East rival New England improved to 5-4 with a 26-3 home rout of Indianapolis as Mac Jones threw for a touchdown and Jonathan Jones returned an interception 17 yards for a touchdown.
Brady heroics bring win
Tom Brady flipped a 1-yard touchdown pass to Cade Otton with nine seconds remaining to give Tampa Bay a 16-13 victory over the reigning Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams.
The 45-year-old quarterback, winner of a record seven Super Bowl crowns, became the first player with 100,000 career p
Image of Tom Brady from Wikipedia.
assing yards, completing 36-of-58 throws for 280 yards.
Brady also delivered his NFL record 69th career game-winning drive in the last two minutes or overtime.
The Buccaneers improved to 4-5 while the Rams fell to 3-5 in the first meeting of the two prior NFL champions in which both had losing records.
The Green Bay Packers (3-6) suffered their fifth consecutive loss, falling 15-9 at Detroit as Aaron Rodgers threw three interceptions while Jared Goff threw two touchdown passes for the Lions.
Cincinnati’s Joe Mixon scored a team-record five touchdowns, running 22 times for 153 yards and four touchdowns with four receptions for 58 yards and another score, to power the Bengals over visiting Carolina 42-21.
Travis Etienne ran for 109 yards and two touchdowns and Trevor Lawrence threw for another score as host Jacksonville rallied from a 17-0 deficit to defeat Las Vegas 27-20.
Cameron Dicker’s 37-yard field goal on the final play gave the Los Angeles Chargers a 20-17 triumph at Atlanta. Austin Ekeler ran for one touchdown and caught a touchdown pass for the Chargers.
Geno Smith threw for 275 yards and two touchdowns and Kenneth Walker ran 26 times for 109 yards and two touchdowns to spark Seattle over host Arizona 31-21.
Tom Brady’s search for a record-extending 11th Super Bowl appearance faces a tough challenge from the Dallas Cowboys in the standout game of the NFL’s wildcard playoff weekend.
Brady took the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to Super Bowl glory in 2020, a record seventh title for the quarterback, but last year’s attempt at a repeat ended with a loss to the Los Angeles Rams in the divisional round.
The former New England Patriot then retired before changing his mind and returning for another push at the title.
The 45-year-old’s plans for the future remain uncertain but what is clear is that he retains a hunger for success.
The Bucs were 6-8 after a defeat to the Cincinnati Bengals on December 18 but Brady led them to an overtime victory over the Arizona Cardinals before clinching a playoff spot with a 30-24 comeback win over the Carolina Panthers.
Brady’s impressive throw
Brady threw for 432 yards, three passing touchdowns and a rushing touchdown in that game.
The Bucs enter the post-season as only the sixth team to do so with a losing regular season record (8-9) since the merger of the NFL and AFL in 1970, but coach Todd Bowles believes Brady and the team have shown grit to get through a difficult campaign.
“Tom Brady is tough. He’s been around for a long time. There’s not a lot he hasn’t seen or been through. I don’t think every day of his career has been a great day. He’s had some rough days here and there, but he works through them, he’s resilient,” he said.
“There’s a lot of guys that dealt with things every day that didn’t get brought to the light. But as a whole, we hung together and came through it.”
To get through the next test, Tampa will have to deal with a Cowboys team that are determined to end their franchise’s 27-year wait for a Super Bowl appearance.
The Cowboys ended with a 12-5 record but were below-par in their Week 18 loss to Washington and quarterback Dak Prescott has had a turnover heavy season — his total of 15 being a joint high in the league despite him missing five games.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is convinced that Prescott will avoid costly turnovers at Tampa however.
“It’s in Dak’s DNA to not turn the ball over. I have all the confidence in the world that he’ll find the right balance of being aggressive not creating turnovers. He understands turnovers more than all of us put together,” he said.
The Cowboys do have an explosive offense with running back Tony Pollard rushing for 1,007 yards this season, his career-best return, and wide-receiver CeeDee Lamb putting up 1,359 yards on 107 receptions.
Brady has a career 7-0 record against the Cowboys, including a 19-3 win in Dallas in Week One this season.
Jaguars look for repeat
All six games in the wildcard round involve teams who met each other in the regular season and get under way on Saturday with the Seattle Seahawks at the San Francisco 49ers.
Seattle sneaked into the playoffs after the Green Bay Packers lost their final game to Detroit and they will have their work cut out against the strong defense of the NFC South divisional rivals who beat them twice this season.
The Jacksonville Jaguars will be hoping for a repeat of their Week Three 38-10 win against the Los Angeles Chargers which saw quarterback Trevor Lawrence throw three touchdowns.
On Sunday, there is a divisional rematch with the heavily favoured Buffalo Bills against the Miami Dolphins who, with Tua Tagovailoa still in the concussion protocol, may again be forced to start with third-choice quarterback, rookie Skyler Thompson.
Fans will be in for a treat if the New York Giants and Minnesota can replicate the drama of their Christmas Eve clash which the Vikings won 27-24 on a last-gasp 61-yard field goal.
The top two teams from the AFC North meet in Sunday’s late game with Baltimore travelling to Cincinnati.
The Ravens could again be without quarterback Lamar Jackson, who hasn’t featured since injuring his knee in the December 4 game against Denver.
The Bengals, while favourites, will be weakened by the loss of guard Alex Cappa (ankle) and tackle La’el Collins (knee).
