TAMPA (SNN-TV) – It was “win or go home” for the Bucs yesterday at Raymond James Stadium, when they welcomed the Los Angeles Rams for their divisional round match-up.
And unfortunately, despite a 24 point rally by Brady and the Bucs, Tampa’s bid to become back-to-back Super Bowl Champions ended yesterday as the Rams won with a last second field goal, 30-27.
Matthew Stafford threw for 366 yards and two touchdowns without an interception, and he used a pair of long completions to NFL receiving leader Cooper Kupp to position the Rams for Matt Gay’s 30-yard field goal as time expired.
Tom Brady rallied the Bucs from a 27-3 second-half deficit with help from three of the Rams’ four turnovers, tying the game on Leonard Fournette’s 9-yard run on fourth-and-inches with 42 seconds remaining.
Brady, meanwhile, completed 30 of 54 passes for 329 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He was sacked three times and lost a fumble.
Despite how the Bucs battled back and fell short, Bruce Arians is still proud of his team’s efforts through a somewhat burdened season.
“Can’t say enough about all of them. We had the guys that stepped in and stepped up with all the receivers, DBs and everybody else this year. They were a part of this journey. It’s a shame we didn’t complete it.” – Bruce Arians
Arians also said he plans to return as coach next year. With that being said, Bucs fans now wait to see what will be the future of 44 year old signal caller, Tom Brady. Prior to yesterday’s game it was noted that Brady is not yet committed to playing next season, and the thoughts of retirement loom larger than ever before. Brady spoke postgame yesterday and left the questions, as expected, unanswered.
“I haven’t put a lot of thought into it, so you know, we will just take it day by day and kind of see where we are at. Truthfully guys, I’m thinking about this game. I’m not thinking about anything past five minutes from now.” – Tom Brady
Reports of Bucs season ticket holders being asked to renew their 2022 tickets by February 11th, 34 days earlier than last year is also fueling indication that Brady may call it a career.
