Just when it looked like Tampa Bay would reach a new low Tom Brady led a Buccaneers comeback over the Rams to reclaim first place in the NFC South.
Tom Brady is still Tom Brady.
That much was clear on Sunday as the Buccaneers pulled off an improbable comeback against the Los Angeles Rams.
Los Angeles led 13-9 with less than a minute remaining in the fourth quarter. They made the mistake of giving Brady any chance to lead a game-winning drive. He did just that with the kind of ease that can only come from someone who has made those kinds of drives routine.
44 seconds and no timeouts. @TomBrady's 55th career game-winning drive. #LARvsTB pic.twitter.com/mIdMRCMMpz
— NFL (@NFL) November 7, 2022
NFL Twitter was in awe of Brady. One minute, it looked like the Bucs would fall to 3-6 with their fourth-straight loss. The next minute, Tampa Bay was 4-6 and in first place in the NFC South once more.
NFL Twitter’s best memes and tweets after the Bucs beat the Rams
Brady and his heroics were the main subject of the reaction on Sunday.
Chris Godwin, coming off ACL surgery, can't run the way he used to. Mike Evans got banged up on his 1st catch and was pretty useless. So Brady started going to Little Scotty Miller, who had a team-high 7 catches. Should've caught the game-winner. But the GOAT just kept GOATING.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) November 7, 2022
Tom Brady just threw the game-winner of that crazy comeback to a kid who was born during spring ball of his fifth year at Michigan.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) November 7, 2022
Tom Brady now has 55 career game-winning drives. The most in NFL history (Passed Peyton Manning) pic.twitter.com/wziiCQDudU
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) November 7, 2022
TOM BRADY STILL HIMpic.twitter.com/ms1wDGUlx9
— Overtime (@overtime) November 7, 2022
.@TomBrady is the G.O.A.T. The come back kid! @Buccaneers
— Tito Ortiz (with the blue check) (@titoortiz) November 7, 2022
The Buccaneers had just a 5% chance of winning after they turned the ball over on downs with 1:52 remaining in the game, trailing 13-9.
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) November 7, 2022
Tom Brady completed 5 of 6 passes for 54 yards & a TD (+21.3% CPOE) on the Buccaneers' game-winning drive.#LARvsTB | #GoBucs pic.twitter.com/xkZa7OKvPV
The Rams and their inability to finish games also got some attention.
lol Rams pic.twitter.com/l6iK161JIX
— Computer Cowboy (@benbbaldwin) November 7, 2022
The Rams' offense took over after a defensive stop and on the friendly side of the 2 minute warning. They coughed the ball back up to Brady after about 58 seconds, ahead 13-9. Gashed on the other side in 35 seconds after not allowing TD all day. Just atrocious.
— Jourdan Rodrigue (@JourdanRodrigue) November 7, 2022
I know Rams DEF gave up that final touchdown, sure. But Rams offense gained 9 (nine) first downs, finished with 206 total yards, averaged 3.7 yards per play, and had 8 (eight) three-and-outs. Not a winning performance. Not even close.
— Myles Simmons (@MylesASimmons) November 7, 2022
That felt like a season-ending loss for the Rams.
— Sheil Kapadia (@SheilKapadia) November 7, 2022
One first down (total!) on their last 5 possessions. If they could've gotten a second, they win.
Offense ranks 30th in EPA per drive - ahead of only Steelers and Colts.
Team has -42 point differential - ranks 27th.
Bad team.
Brady threw for 280 yards. His game-winning touchdown to tight end Cade Otton was his only score of the night.
On the other side of things, Matthew Stafford took four sacks while throwing for 165 yards and a touchdown. Cooper Kupp led all receivers with eight catches for 127 yards and one touchdown.
The Buccaneers have a long flight to Munich coming up, so notching such an uplifting victory before that trip was definitely welcome. They’ll battle the Seahawks in the NFL’s first appearance in Germany.
As for the Rams, they’ll take on the Cardinals next week knowing they can’t afford to fall much further behind in the NFC West. Tampa Bay could do them a serious favor in that regard in Europe.