Saturday night was Tom Brady’s 42nd playoff game of his career. He has passed 75 times through the 42 games.
This is the context that makes the following statistic so surprising: The Buccaneers full-back struck twice in the attack of at least 20 yards on Saturday in Tampa Bay’s NFC Wild Card Round victory over Washington – for the first time in his career after the season .
To clarify: In 17 trips to the post-season more than 20 years with the New England Patriots, Brady has never thrown more TD passes of more than 20 yards in a playoff game.
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For a more incredible context, Brady has thrown at least two TDs in 23 playoff games with New England, including a six-pointer from the Denver Broncos in 2012. However, in none of those games has TB12 had two deep TD attacks in the same game. .
The Bucs needed both of Brady’s deep balls on Saturday, and barely held on to beat the soccer team 31-23 and advance to the NFC Division Round.
Here’s Brady’s last stat line on the night:
22 for 40, 381 meters, 2 TDs, 0 INT, 104.3 passenger rating
Now to the highlights. Here’s Brady’s first TD pass of the game, a 36-year-old friend Antonio Brown on the right sideline:
And here’s Brady’s second deep TD pass: a 27-year-old Chris Godwin, who made Tampa Bay go up 15-7.
Brady was excellent at throwing the long ball all night and turned on Mike Evans for this beauty in the fourth quarter that set a Bucs field goal:
Washington QB Taylor Heinicke (306 yards, one passing TD, one rushing TD) kept things going for the soccer team, but the Tampa Bay defense held strong late in the fourth quarter to secure the franchise’s first playoff victory since the Super Bowl in 2002. clinched.
If the Saints beat the Chicago Bears Sunday, the Bucs travel to New Orleans next weekend in the NFC Division Round. If the Bears win, Tampa Bay will host the Los Angeles Rams.