Tom Brady bests Bill Belichick as Buccaneers beat Patriots in QB’s New England return
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – If they came to see vintage Tom Brady, that’s not what the much-anticipated return to Gillette Stadium turned out to be.
Except at the end.
Brady, dogged by misfires and unfinished drives throughout the game, showed the old faithful that for good measure he can still lead his team to a game-winning drive in crunchtime.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers survived a major scare – and Brady a major embarrassment – by pulling out a 19-17 victory against the New England Patriots on Sunday night.
What blowout? Projections that Brady might hang 50 on his former teammates in his return to his old stomping grounds proved to be way off-base.
Instead, Bill Belichick Co. made TB12 sweat. Majorly.
The Patriots (1-3) came with gadget plays, exotic blites and a minimal-mistake performance from rookie quarterback Mac Jones to push the Bucs (3-1) to the edge.
MORE:Tom Brady breaks Drew Brees’ record to become NFL’s all-time career passing yards leader
Sure, Brady became the NFL’s all-time leader for passing yards (surpassing Drew Brees’ record) and became just the fourth quarterback ever to notch victories against all 32 NFL teams. But he was nearly upstaged by a rookie and had his least-efficient game of the season. For just the second time since he joined the Bucs in 2020 as a free agent, Brady didn’t throw a touchdown.