Tom Brady's comeback comes up short, Aaron Rodgers' Packers beat Bucs in Tampa
BOSTON -- It was a familiar sight late in the afternoon on Sunday, as Tom Brady drove his team down the field for a potential game-tying drive. After a dreadful offensive day, the quarterback managed to bear down when it mattered most to give his team a shot to beat the Packers.
Alas, that comeback came up just short -- thanks in large part to a sloppy sequence following a touchdown pass from Brady.
The touchdown -- a 1-yard strike from Brady to Russell Gage -- cut Green Bay's lead to 14-12. The Bucs barely got that play off before the play clock expired, after the offense had to rush to the line, with Brady lining up his receivers before taking the snap.
On the two-point conversion attempt, the Bucs' offense was just as disorganized as it was one snap prior, only this time, they didn't get the snap off in time. The Bucs incurred a five-yard penalty for delay of game, pushing the two-point attempt back to the 7-yard line.
The Packers defended that play well, just as they had done for most of the day, resulting in an incomplete pass that sealed the Packers' victory.
On the scoring drive, Brady completed nine of his 12 passes for 80 yards and a touchdown.
The late drive was a break in character from the rest of the game, which saw defenses rule what was supposed to be an offensive game featuring the two most prolific quarterbacks in history. Rodgers did throw for 255 yards with two touchdowns and an interception, but the Packers scored zero points after halftime. Brady finished with 271 yards with one touchdown and no picks -- though he had a rare 18-yard scramble late in the third quarter, a rush that was taken off the board due to a holding penalty.
The Green Bay victory and Tampa Bay loss leaves both teams at 2-1 on the season.
"Yeah, I just looked up and we had a, just a bad execution. That's really what it is," Brady said of the failed two-point conversion. "Yeah it's just, there's a lot to it, so bad execution on offense at a time when we need execution, and we didn't get it. And there was a lot of other times we had a lot of bad execution, and I think the reality is, when you do that, you don't have the opportunity to score points. So it was too many plays where we were behind the sticks and not good on third down and penalties, turnovers, missed opportunities. The defense played great. We gotta play better on offense. We've gotta do a lot better job, we haven't scored many points all season. So, three games, we've got to get a lot better."
Brady and Rodgers are now both 2-2 in head-to-head meetings in the regular season, with Brady's Bucs beating Rodgers' Packers in the postseason in 2020.
