Tampa Bay Buccaneers veteran wide receiver Antonio Brown made an enormous impact in their 31-23 win over the Washington Football Team in Saturday’s Wild Card Game at FedEx Field. Brown caught the game’s first touchdown pass when Brady found him for a 36-yard scoring strike, his first touchdown catch in the postseason since 2017 when he was still with the Pittsburgh Steelers. “That was an honor. They don’t get no better. Grateful, thankful. It’s a great win here today, and I’m glad we got the win to keep it going,” said Brown, who finished the game with two catches for 49 yards and ran the ball once for 22 yards as the No.
5 seed Buccaneers clinched their first playoff win since 2003 when they won the Super Bowl.
Brown lauds Brady for leading the team
When asked about Brady’s ability to drive the team to success at this point in his career, Brown said, “he’s hungry, he doesn’t miss a rep. He’s out there making every guy better”, per a transcript of his post-game interview on YouTube.
The veteran wide receiver likened Brady to a general commanding the offense of the team. “Anytime you run a guy like that, you want to provide him your best,” he said. Following the win, Brown said the team needs to focus and prepare for their next game. “We got another opportunity to go out there and put it on display. We got to get back to the lab and clean some things up.
Our goal is still in front of us,” he said.
Brady says the team needs to do better next week
Despite the win, Brady said the team needs to prepare hard and try to do a much better job next week as they face another good opponent in the divisional round. Brady also lamented several scoring opportunities in the red zone that should be addressed when they return to practice next week.
“We’ll get ready for whoever or opponent is going to be. It’s going to be a good one. We’re going to have to go play great football,” Brady said, per Conor Roche of Boston.com. With his 31st win in the postseason and his first with the Buccaneers, Brady has rewritten his NFL all-time record for most victories in the playoffs.
Brady threw two scoring strikes vs WFT
Brady completed 22 of 40 passes for 381 yards and two scores, while top wideout Mike Evans had six catches for 119 just one week after suffering a hyperextended knee in their win over the Atlanta Falcons. Tight end Cameron Brate had four catches for 80 yards while Chris Godwin had five catches for 79 yards and a score. Running back Leonard Fournette carried the load on the ground with the absence of top rusher Ronald Jones, who suffered a quad injury in warmups, per Luke Easterling of USA Today. Fournette carried the ball 19 times for 93 yards and a score and provided Brady with another target as he caught four passes for 39 yards.
Bucs could play at home in Divisional Round
As of now, the Buccaneers have no idea who will take on next in the Divisional Round game, pending the result of the showdown between the New Orleans Saints and the Chicago Bears on Sunday. According to Scott Smith of Buccaneers.com, there is a possibility that the Buccaneers could play their next playoff game at Raymond James Stadium. This, if the Chicago Bears pull off a surprise and upset the Saints. If this happens, the Buccaneers will host the Los Angeles Rams, and the Green Bay Packers facing the Bears. If the Saints win, the Buccaneers will play New Orleans for the third time this season at Superdome. The Rams, for their part, will take on the Packers at Lambeau Field.