The Tampa Bay Buccaneers have won their first playoff game in 18 years after beating the Washington Football Team 31:23 in the NFC Wild Card Round on Saturday night.
Tampa made its first appearance after Season since 2007 and had a cheap match against a team from Washington, who played 7-9 in the regular season. The Bucs ended the year with four straight wins and an attack averaging 40.7 points per game over the past three weeks.
Washington’s key to success throughout the season was defending that at the points allowed per game took fourth place (20.6). The offense was a question mark, especially given that Taylor Heinicke was just making his second NFL start instead of Alex Smith, who was declared inactive with a calf injury.
Although the football team’s defense a bad matchup for Tom Brady Seemed like the three-time NFL MVP could take them apart. He finished past 381 yards, despite being sacked three times.
Heinicke succeeded in throwing the ball into the field and playing with his legs, building a total of 352 yards.
Although the Buccaneers considered Number 5 entered the playoffs, they have played just as well as any other team in the NFC last month.
Brady in particular is right in the middle of one of the hottest streaks of his historic career. The 43-year-old has thrown at least 300 yards in four consecutive games with 12 touchdown passes during this time.
1️⃣2️⃣ to 1️⃣4️⃣
@ TomBrady throws his second TD in half. #GoBucs
📺: #TBvsWAS on NBC
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/yWHeL8jeLS https://t.co/vAMHr9Xyzy
In his first playoff game with Brady, Antonio Brown scored a touchdown in the first quarter -Catch from 36 yards.
Tom Brady’s 36-yard touchdown pass for Antonio Brown was only the 7th 30-yard touchdown pass of his postseason career and his first since the 2016 AFC Championship against Antonio Brown and the Steelers. https://t.co/j0e76meKR7
Brady to Brown puts the Bucs on 9th #GoBucs #SuperWildCard
📺: #TBvsWAS on NBC
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/yWHeL8jeLS https://t.co/46xqeNNDAC
Brown has found his move on Bruce Arians’ offensive. The seven-time Pro Bowler scored four touchdowns in the last three games of the regular season and had a season high of 138 meters against the Atlanta Falcons in week 17.
Antonio Brown: The only WR in the playoffs with at least 40 goals and 0 drops https://t.co/2BmxaXj0RX
It’s good that Brown has stepped up, because Chris Godwin had an absolute nightmare game that he wants to forget right away.
Chris Godwin is the first player with 4 drops in a playoff game since Brian Westbrook against the Saints on January 13, 2007.
Godwin came into play with 4 drops throughout his career. https://t.co/nOfmJWIfsQ
One of Godwin’s drops was a possible touchdown catch in four games before Brown made it to the end zone in the first quarter.
There are still signs that the Bucs will be prone to better competition. Washington was able to move the ball across the field of play against his defense, averaging 5.4 yards per game, but his inability to complete the drives resulted in his downfall.
Brady had a number of big games in the air, but its degree of completion was below 50 percent in the third quarter. Offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich continues to stress the game in progress much longer than he should.
So it’s the playoffs …
and Byron Leftwich has been demanding more runs than early down passes …
Riding * Leonard Fournette *
in a team with:
Tom Brady
Mike Evans
Chris Godwin
Antonio Brown
Rob Gronkowski
When the Buccaneers tried to extend their 18:10 lead in the middle of the third quarter, Ke’Shawn Vaughn lost a mistake, which was corrected by Washington linebacker Jon Bostic.
If there’s a silver lining, After fumbling, Brady led the offensive on three consecutive scoring drives in the fourth quarter that made all the difference in the game.
Arians, Leftwich and the rest of the coaching staff have many adjustments to make over the next week, but the Bucs prove furthermore that they can win games in different ways. That makes them very dangerous in an NFC that looks wide open after the Green Bay Packers.
Given that Washington has entered the 2020 season with the longest chances of winning the NFC East and has not played any playoffs since 2015 getting to that point is a huge step in the right direction for the franchise.
Washington has the foundation of a potential juggernaut thanks to a dominant defense. That unit finished third in Football Outsiders’ DVOA and fourth in the regular season.
Washington’s defense was excellent in the second half of this year. The team has admitted a league low of 5.69 points per game and a league low of 116.9 meters after half-time. The closest in yards are the Rams at 136.6. https://t.co/WwbLDmr7Pu
The expectation for Saturday night was that Tampa Bay would blow Washington’s doors open. It definitely seemed sensible, especially when Washington turned to a quarterback who had a start in his six-year NFL career.
Something strange happened along the way: Washington stayed around and even flirted angrily.
Heinicke not only looked good in his first playoff appearance, but also caused the Bucs defense all sorts of problems with arms and legs.Heinicke threw more passes through the first three quarters than during the Saturday evening (26) entire regular season (19). Although the 27-year-old is not a long-term starter in Washington, he definitely looks like an above-average backup.
Quickly from « Wow, Taylor Heinicke is playing well » to « Taylor Heinicke has to get a chance to start next year . «
Taylor Heinicke achieved a top speed of 19.29 MPH on this 8-yard TD run and covered 39.1 yards from snap to cross the pylon.
Heinicke is responsible for the two fastest speeds of a ball carrier in today’s game (19.29 & 19.25 MPH).
#TBvsWAS | Supported by @awscloud https://t.co/dTT5ClukWf
Taylor Heinicke, who will be a free agent in two months, is a fantastic little mess to throw in the off-season.
Heinicke delivers Steven Sims a dime for the TD!
@WashingtonNFL makes it a one ball game. #WashingtonFootball #SuperWildCard
📺: #TBvsWAS on NBC
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/yWHeL8jeLS https://t.co/aEytuJcYsw
The Washington defense has proven throughout the 2020 season that they are using can keep up with any team in the league. The quarterback situation left the offense in constant flux.
The WSH-D-line is anything a 43 year old man doesn’t want to deal with in life.
« Payne »
« Sweat »
« Chase »
« YOUNG »
Under no circumstance. https://t.co/Gvh7mwfFUe
The offensive has talent: Terry McLaurin has proven himself quarterback-safe after breaking the 1,000-yard mark in 2020. Antonio Gibson had a great rookie season with 1,042 yards to scrimmage and 11 touchdowns.
Head coach Ron Rivera and his staff have this position to deal with this offseason. If Washington can even get an average quarterback production in 2021, the cap for that team will be as high as any NFC team.
The Bucs NFC Divisional Round matchup will be based on the outcome of the Sunday game between the Chicagos Bears and the New Orleans Saints set.
Ref: https://bleacherreport.com
