TAMPA (SNN-TV) – The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tom Brady took the first step on what they hope will be a journey back to the Super Bowl, dominating the Philadelphia Eagles 31-15 in a NFC wild-card playoff victory.
Tampa Bay set the tempo from the start, with Brady leading a pair of long TD drives in the opening quarter and building the lead to 17-0 by halftime.
The three-time league MVP finished off the Eagles with TD passes of 2 yards to Rob Gronkowski and 36 yards to Mike Evans, improving his dazzling playoff record to 35-11 in a record 46 postseason starts.
Brady completed 29 of 37 attempts without an interception while extending his postseason record for TD passes to 85.
The Bucs defense did its part, too, intercepting Jalen Hurts twice in the Philadelphia quarterback’s playoff debut.
Bruce Arians spoke to the dominance his team continues to display despite lingering injuries. “We talked in the locker room after the game, [when] you put that Bucs helmet on there’s a level of expectation. You can’t be the guy you’re replacing, you just got to be the best guy you can be. These guys have all stepped in when they’ve got these opportunities and done it.”
With their win, the Bucs will host their divisional round game on Sunday the 23rd at 3pm against the winner of tonight’s Rams/Cardinals match up.
