Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady clinched another NFL all-time record as he led his team to a 41-17 win over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday at Raymond James Stadium. The 44-year-old Brady completed 29 of 37 passes for 326 yards and three touchdowns with no interception as he helped the Buccaneers clinch a franchise-record 13 regular-season wins in 17 games.
With 29 completions, Brady set a new regular-season completions mark with 485, eclipsing the previous mark of 471 set by Drew Brees. Earlier, Brady erased Brees’ previous all-time completions record in their win over the Buffalo Bills.
Brady connected with Evans for the historic completion.
Brady finished the season with a career-best 5,316 passing yards and clinched the franchise record with 43 touchdown passes on the season, erasing the 41 set by Jameis Winston. With his output against the Panthers, Brady finished the regular season No. 1 in passing yards, completions and passing touchdowns.
The Buccaneers’ victory, coupled with the San Francisco 49ers’ 27-24 overtime win over the Los Angeles Rams, has vaulted Tampa Bay to the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs. The Buccaneers will next play the No. 7 Philadelphia Eagles in the postseason. The Eagles recently suffered a 51-26 loss at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys.
Gronk earns huge bonus
Brady did not leave the game until he finished helping tight end Rob Gronkowski earn his $1 million bonus. Gronkowski entered the game needing seven catches and 85 yards to earn a total of $1 million bonus as part of the incentives in his contract where he had to tally 55 catches and 650 receiving yards.
Brady helped him achieve that with a seven-yard pass with 6:29 left in the fourth. After that, Brady was pulled out of the game and was replaced by Blaine Gabbert. After finishing with 7 catches for 137 yards, Gronkowski also made history as he tallied his 32nd 100-yard game, overtaking Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez for the most by a tight end in league history.
Evans extends record
Wide receiver Mike Evans also extended his record when he clinched his eighth straight 1,000-yard season. Evans caught six passes for 89 yards and two touchdowns, enabling him to finish the season with a career-best 14 touchdowns, one more than his previous career high. "It's a true blessing," Evans told the media after the victory, referring to his latest milestone. Wide receiver Scotty Miller was the Buccaneers’ top rusher as he ran the ball twice for 43 yards and a touchdown, Ke’Shawn Vaughn added 29 yards on 10 carries while Le’Veon Bell ran the ball three times for 14 yards and caught a one-yard touchdown pass from Brady for his first touchdown catch as a Buccaneer.
