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Tom Brady’s Buccaneers defeat Green Bay after ‘coward’ decision

Tom Brady has added another freakish chapter to his unprecedented career after an outrageous coaching choke put him in the Super Bowl.

Tyson OttoTyson Otto
@tottodtsport
2 min read
January 25, 2021 - 10:49AM
Tom Brady of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a rollercoaster day at the office.
Tom Brady of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had a rollercoaster day at the office.

Tom Brady is going to the Super Bowl. Aaron Rodgers is not.

In a wild finish to the NFC Championship showdown at Lambeau Field, Brady’s Buccaneers held their nerve at the death after the legendary quarterback melted down spectacularly in the second half.

The Buccaneers are the first team through to Super Bowl 55 after a nail-biting 31-26 win and will play the winner of the AFC Championship game between the Chiefs and Bills.

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Brady, making his 14th appearance in a conference title game, had been on fire in the first half, leading the Buccaneers to a healthy lead, but it was a very different Brady that returned in the second half.

He transformed from the ice man to a melting mess in the blink of an eye.

The six-time Super Bowl champion had gone 393 pass attempts on the road without coughing up an intercept before the second half — the longest streak seen in the NFL since 1948.

All of a sudden three straight Tampa Bay drives ended with Brady intercepts, allowing the Packers to cut the margin back to 28-23.

The 43-year-old was picked again with a throw that was too high for receiver Mike Evans and was caught by the Green Bay defence on the five-yard line.

Then again for his third straight drive ending with a Brady intercept pass.

American sport reporter John Healy posted on Twitter: “Brady is choking”.

The two teams exchanged field goals down the stretch to leave Brady with the ball in his hand and a lead of 31-26 at the two minute warning.

The stage was set for the dream finale between two of the greatest quarterbacks the sport has ever seen.

It was a huge gamble for the Packers to kick a field goal from inside the red zone after the Tampa defence forced them to fourth down with less than three minutes on the clock.

Rather than roll the dice on their offence, the Packers gambled on Brady giving them back the ball with enough time to steal the win.

They never saw the pig skin again.

NFL commentators refused to accept Packers coach Matt LaFluer’s decision to put the game in Brady’s hands — rather than pull the trigger from the eight-yard line on fourth down.

“Brady gift wrapped another Super Bowl appearance courtesy a coward decision,” Philadelphia sports commentator Jon Johnson wrote on Twitter.

Tennis expert and sports commentator Brad Gilbert wrote: “One of the worst coaching decisions by a coach I have seen in along time, that was beyond brutal to not go for that at the 8 yard line”.

In the end Brady held his cool in the dying minutes to keep the Packers at bay. He is going to his tenth Super Bowl, no other NFL quarterback has more than five appearances in American football’s biggest game.

Like all the greats, Brady simply found a way to win.

His credentials as the greatest of all time now seem impossible to question.

Since leaving the Patriots and former coach Bill Belichick, Brady has turned a team with a record of 7-9 in 2019 into the NFC Champions, while the Patriots slumped to a 7-9 season.

He will be shooting for a preposterous seventh Super Bowl championship when the Buccaneers create history as the first team to play in a Super Bowl inside their home stadium on February 8.

Originally published as Tom Brady’s Buccaneers defeat Green Bay after ‘coward’ decision

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Original URL: https://www.ntnews.com.au/sport/american-sports/nfl/tom-bradys-buccaneers-defeat-green-bay-after-coward-decision/news-story/87f39708dd934cee925228eebb3551c6