Photo: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images
Perhaps the biggest rival of Tom Brady on Sunday in the most anticipated game of the season 2021 of the NFL was not a player of the Patriots and neither even coach Bill Belichick. The biggest challenge for the 44 year old quarterback It was something that is neither material nor quantifiable: his own emotions.
Brady returned to Gillette Stadium on Sunday night to face the team he played for for the first time 20 years and which he made known and prestigious around the world by leading him to six Super Bowl victories. And as he did most of the time on that court with the Pats jersey, he took the win.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won 19 – 17 in the rain of Foxboro, Massachusetts when the field goal attempt by 56 yards from Nick Folk who could flip the marker hit the post with less than a minute remaining.
Three times the Buccaneers had to come from behind against Patriots very well prepared and ready to Brady on his return home. Ryan Succop’s field goal of 56 yards subtracting 1 : 57 minutes was the decisive score.
Tom Brady’s successor played better, but he always wins
Brady, who before the game published an animated video of his career With the Pats , he not only suffered from the variety of defensive packages Belichick had in store for him, but also from the weather, which was a factor. Completed 22 of 43 shipments, no touchdowns or intercepted passes.
Arguably his New England successor, rookie Mac Jones, played better than Brady : completed 31 of 40 passes for 275 yards, 2 TDs and 1 intercepted. In a span of the match he basted 19 Completion passes, longest streak of its kind in the past 30 years for a rookie in the league. He also tied Brady’s best string of completions with the Pats.
But Brady was never the most accurate quarterback, or the one with the most powerful arm. , nor the one with the best mobility. His specialty has been winning games by virtue of his unsurpassed competitiveness and determination. Won 232 regular season games with New England and 22 more than playoffs before heading to Tampa Bay. After Sunday, “TB 12 ”has already beaten all 31 NFL teams .
Brady conceded after the game that controlling his emotions was not easy on such an anticipated night at the stadium where the fans got used to seeing him win and where he is adored.
The emotions behind Tom Brady’s passes in Foxboro
“Just a lot of emotions,” said Brady to reporters. “These men are like my brothers. There are two groups of people: all my fellow Bucs that I love and go to battle with every week. And then there is another group of men, and they are my friends that I have been with for a long time … Those are the people with whom I have shared my life . Very grateful for all that you have contributed in my life. Very blessed. ”
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Brady was cheered when he took to the field to warm up and his name was chanted by the fans.