Tampa Bay Buccaneers have finally powered themselves into the playoffs after a long wait of 13 years and the Tom Brady-Antonio Brown duo made sure the entrance is a grand one.
Tom Brady finds Antonio Brown with a soaring 36-yard TD pass in the opening quarter
In their 31-23 Wild Card thrashing of Washington at the FedExField, the Bucs quarterback stole the show with delivering a 36-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver with 2:51 remaining in the first quarter, giving the visitors a 9-0 lead.
Check out the touchdown below, courtesy of the official Twitter handle of the Buccaneers.
.@TomBrady ➡️ @AB84
— Tampa Bay Buccaneers (@Buccaneers) January 10, 2021
📺: https://t.co/YTsdMJXTRR pic.twitter.com/oUZTs50zeK
Brady, who completed 22 out of 40 passes with 381 passing yards in the game, marked his sixth straight NFL game with delivering a touchdown pass over 25 yards, as the 43 year old veteran continues to prove his worth. In their recent Week 17 clash against Atlanta Falcons, Brady set a seemingly unbreakable NFL record.
As for Brown, who is playing his first playoff since 2017, clocked a total of 49 receiving yards against Washington and the touchdown marked his fifth in his last five playoff games, with three of them coming from his last two playoff appearances.
The Brady-Brown partnership is expected to click more, knowing that Tom Brady had decided to take his former Steelers teammate in as a houseguest back in November last year.
Amid Washington’s loss, Taylor Heinicke and his incredible dive stands out
Replacing Alex Smith just hours before the Bucs clash, the fresh Washington quarterback Taylor Heinicke did not garner much attention, until the third quarter of the match.
Breaking contact in Washington’s third-and-5 play, the 27-year-old rushed towards the end zone, finishing his run with a dive as they went up 16-18.
HEINICKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!@budlight | #BudLightCelly pic.twitter.com/UPKj8sjql6
— Washington Football Team (@WashingtonNFL) January 10, 2021
The bizarre yet astonishing finish from Heinicke went viral on NFL Twitter and even caught the radar of Chiefs icon Patrick Mahomes, praising the young QB despite the result.
Bro what!?!?! 😂😂😂
— Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes) January 10, 2021
Regardless of the outcome what a great game by Heinicke!
— Patrick Mahomes II (@PatrickMahomes) January 10, 2021
Heinicke finished the game with 306 passing yards with one passing TD and interception each as well.
“I deserve to be in this league a little longer,” said the former St. Louis BattleHawks QB, who returned to the NFL in December, “I’ve been on the other side not playing and it’s not fun, not as fun as this.”