Down 10 points in the 4th quarter, Tom Brady rallied the Buccaneers to force overtime, then completed the return with a drive to set up Ryan Succop’s 40-yard field objective and a 19-16 resurgence win over the Arizona Cardinals on Christmas.
Brady finished 6 straight passes for 69 backyards in overtime to get to the 19-yard line, and Succop’s kick offered the Bucs a win in a videogame where their offense hadactually done really littlebit goinginto the 4th quarter. Brady completed with 281 backyards.
The Bucs (7-8) have set themselves up well, such that a win at house versus Carolina next week would clinch the NFC South title. Had they lost Sunday, the Panthers might haveactually gottenridof the Bucs with a win in Tampa.
Down 16-6 in the 4th quarter, the Bucs offense woke up, with Leonard Fournette taking a screen pass for a 44-yard gain. Brady went 6-for-7 for 67 backyards on the drive, ending in on third-and-goal with a 3-lawn goal pass to novice running back Rachaad White to get within 3 points.
Then the Cardinals fumbled on an choice pitch, with Bucs defensive lineman Will Gholston leaping on the loose ball. That set up another Succop field objective to tie the videogame at 16 with 2: 27 staying.
The Bucs defense held Arizona’s offense in check for most of the night, however a 47-yard pass from Trace McSorley to receiver Hollywood Brown set up a 39-yard Matt Prater field objective to offer the Cardinals their veryfirst lead at 9-6 with 14: 07 left.
That drive began after Brady’s 2nd interception of the videogame, both by Arizona’s Marco Wilson. Brady had simply 3 interceptions in the veryfirst 12 videogames of this season, however now has 2 each in the last 3 videogames, offering him 9 on the year.
The 2 groups hadahardtime offensively on the method to a 6-6 tie at halftime, with Arizona getting a 53-yard field objective from Prater simply previously the half to tie the videogame.
The Bucs got 48 lawns on their veryfirst 2 plays — a pass disturbance flag and an 18-yard White run — however that drive stalled at the Arizona 20, leading to a field objective. The Bucs defense addressed with a turnover, as outside linebacker Anthony Nelson sacked McSorley and required a fumble that linebacker Devin White recuperated for the Bucs. That turnover didn’t yield as any points, as the Bucs went for it on fourth-and-1 at the Arizona 48 and Fournette was stopped brief for a turnover on downs.
A 56-yard field objective by Prater connected the videogame at 3-3, and another Bucs drive stalled in the red zone, with a goal negated by an prohibited shift charge, followed by a hold, setting up another Ryan Succop field objective. Brady hadahardtime to relocation the chains with any consistency, with another drive ending with an interception when he tossed as he was getting struck.
Brady was simply 12-for-20 for 87 backyards in the veryfirst half, 5 of those conclusions on dumpoffs to Fournette. McSorley, making his veryfirst NFL start after injuries to Kyler Murray and backup Colt McCoy, was 10-for-21 for 79 lawns.
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Greg Auman is FOX Sports’ NFC South pressreporter, covering the Buccaneers, Falcons, Panthers and Saints. He is in his 10th season covering the Bucs and the NFL full-time, havingactually invested time at the Tampa Bay Times and The Athletic. You can follow him on Twitter at @gregauman.
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