TAMPA, Fla. — Tom Brady is the GOAT for a reason, and Monday night, he showed that again, leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a come-from-behind win over the New Orleans Saints with a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter.
The Buccaneers fired on all cylinders in the team’s first drive on offense. Quarterback Tom Brady was sharp and led the Bucs deep into New Orleans Saints territory.
But as has been the case on so many drives for the Bucs recently, the drive stalled out with receiver Chris Godwin and running back Leonard Fournette getting stuffed on the three-yard line.
The Bucs took an early lead with a field goal from kicker Ryan Succop.
The teams went back and forth, with neither offense able to get rolling. That is until early in the second quarter when the Saints marched the ball down the field before quarterback Andy Dalton hit Taysom Hill for a 30-yard touchdown to give the Saints a 7-3 lead.
The Bucs’ offense continued to struggle to get anything going, but the Bucs’ defense kept the team in the game with a big stop after the Saints got a long punt return.
The Bucs started another drive deep in their own territory with 3:46 left before halftime. Brady completed passes to running back Rachaad White before hitting a big pass to wide receiver Mike Evans.
But then, Brady threw an interception right into the chest of Saints linebacker Demario Davis.
New Orleans took the ball down the field, but an attempted one-handed grab from Andy Dalton fell incomplete, and the Saints had to settle for a field goal from Wil Lutz. The kick sent the score to 10-3 as the game went to halftime.
Not surprisingly, the Bucs were greeted with boos as they made their way to the locker room.
The first half was the same thing Bucs have seen for the last three seasons against the Saints…offensive ineptitude. At halftime, the Saints had held the Bucs to just six points during games in Tampa since 2019. Ouch.
All total, the Bucs ran 38 plays in the first half and weren't able to gain more than 14 yards on any of those plays. While the total yards were nearly equal for the two teams in the first half, the Saints averaged 6.3 yards per play versus the Bucs' 3.9 yards.
The Bucs' defense stood tall to start the second half giving the ball back to the offense.
But even as the Bucs made a few completions, White fumbled the ball for the team's second turnover in as many minutes.
The Saints wasted no time and started checking the ball down to running backs that the Bucs just couldn't stop. A few completions later, the Saints were on the three-yard line with a big third down facing them.
A penalty pushed the Saints back five yards, and those five yards proved especially costly. Bucs safety Keanu Neal stopped Taysom Hill short of the first down at the three yards line, forcing the Saints to kick a 21-yard field goal to give the Saints a 13-3 lead with 2:46 left in the third quarter.
As the third quarter wound down, the Bucs started moving the ball down the field with the team standing on the Saints' 42-yard line, but the Bucs offense stalled again at the Saints 40 yard line as the game went to the fourth quarter with the Bucs trailing New Orleans, 13-3.
The Bucs started off the fourth quarter with a punt that netted just 20 yards of field position for Tampa Bay.
As the fourth quarter got started, New Orleans Times-Picayune columnist had an almost unbelievable stat that he shared.
Tom Brady has now played 11 quarters against the Saints defense at Raymond James Stadium and has yet to lead the offense to a single touchdown.
— Jeff Duncan (@JeffDuncan_) December 6, 2022
As the clock wore on, the Bucs gave up another field goal and trailed the Saints 16-3. The Bucs got the ball with seven minutes to play, but Tampa Bay, for some reason, decided to put the ball. It was the latest in a string of questionable moves by head coach Todd Bowles.
With 6:54 left in the game, the Bucs had opted to punt twice in the fourth quarter and netted a total of 48 yards on those two points.
New Orleans took the ball back near midfield and looked to milk the clock with runs and short passes, but the Bucs' defense once again stuffed the Saints and gave the ball back to Tom Brady.
Tampa Bay finally decided to give up on the run and began throwing the ball on every play, and the team pushed the ball past the Saints' 40-yard line 3:40 left in the game. It was the first time the Bucs had been that deep into Saints territory since the opening drive of the game.
After an offensive holding call, Brady took a deep shot to Mike Evans, and the referees threw a flag for defensive pass interference. The penalty put the ball at the 1-yard line, and the Bucs punched it into the end zone a play later, making the score 16-10 with 3:00 left in the game.
It only took Tampa 57 minutes to get into the end zone, but it gave the Bucs a little bit of hope late in the fourth quarter, and the Bucs have all of their timeouts plus the two-minute warning still to go.
The Saints offense took the field, and running back Alvin Kamara got three yards, and Tampa Bay immediately called a timeout. That play was followed up by a Carl Nassib sack of Andy Dalton, setting up a third and long as Tampa took another timeout.
New Orleans' Taysom Hill couldn't hold on to a Dalton pass on third down, and the clock stopped with 2:40 left in the game. Tampa held onto a timeout and took the ball over at their own 37-yard line.
Brady took the field and started the drive with a short pass to Julio Jones for five yards and then another to Chris Godwin to give the Bucs a first down at midfield as the game hit the two-minute warning.
The Bucs had the game's greatest end-of-game quarterback in NFL history and just half the field to go to score a game-winning touchdown.
Brady hit another pass to Otton for 8 yards to get the ball to the Saints' 41-yard line. Leonard Fournette then ran the ball for a gain of 11 to the Saints' 30-yard-line.
The unflappable Brady then found Scotty Miller at the 20-yard line to give the Bucs another first down. Brady then hit Julio Jones to get the Bucs to first and goal with just 17 seconds left in the game.
Brady hit Chris Godwin for a touchdown that was called back due to a holding call on left tackle Donovan Smith. Brady was then incomplete on his next pass to Godwin with 12 seconds left in the game.
The Bucs faced third and goal from the 6-yard line with 8 seconds left in the game and needing a touchdown to win, but the Saints called another timeout.
Then the inevitable happened, Brady hit Rachaad White with just 3 seconds to go in the game for a touchdown! The point after was good, and the Bucs took their first lead since early in the game, 17-16 over the Saints.
The TD that won the game 🙌 @Buccaneers | #NOvsTB pic.twitter.com/McZQZ3h14D
— NFL (@NFL) December 6, 2022
The Saints had one play from their own 25-yard line but couldn't do anything, and the clock hit all zeroes with the final, Tampa Bay 17, New Orleans 16.
The win marked Brady's 56th career game-winning drive and his 40th career comeback win when trailing by at least 10 points. Not surprisingly, both are NFL records.
Most importantly, the victory evened the Bucs' record at 6-6 on the season and put them in the driver's seat in the NFC South.
