Even after struggling yet again for most of the game, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense erased all of that negativity in the final 44 seconds of Sunday’s dramatic win over the Los Angeles Rams.
That’s all it took for Bucs quarterback Tom Brady to lead his unit 60 yards down the field with no timeouts, firing a game-winning touchdown pass to rookie tight end Cade Otton with just nine seconds remaining.
Brady and the Bucs took advantage of a Rams defense that gave up a huge gain to Otton down the middle of the field on the first play of the drive, then allowed Brady to complete three straight passes near the sidelines, with his receivers getting out of bounds to stop the clock every time.
After Mike Evans drew a pass interference call in the end zone, the Rams were sucked in by a play-action fake that helped free up Otton for the score.
I asked Bucs offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich on Thursday if he was surprised by the way the Rams defended them on that final drive, and he preferred to keep the focus on his own side of the situation.
“No, I mean we practice this stuff,” Leftwich said. “I tend to think we did a good job of executing. I don’t look at it that way, that they made mistakes. It’s our job to execute in that moment. We’re not really looking for teams to make mistakes – we’re just trying to execute and make sure we’re doing our part in it. We’re happy that we got in this situation, had an opportunity to win the football game at the end, and found a way to get it done.”
After the drive, Leftwich and Brady were captured by TV cameras sharing a spirited embrace, no doubt expressing a shared relief after weeks of struggles on their side of the ball.
“We know we’re not playing our best, right,” Leftwich said when I asked about that moment with Brady after the drive. “We’re not going to apologize for winning a 16-13 game, because we scored three more points than the team we played. We’re not apologizing for that. Obviously, any time you win games in those moments, the way that we won them…I trust this team [will] always come through in those situations. To see it happen, to see the plays that were made throughout that drive, that series – that’s exciting, man.”
“That’s why we play – we play to win football games,” Leftwich continued. “Everything we do is to win the football game, regardless of score. When you have an opportunity to win in this league…we know that sometimes when you win in this league…the most important thing is winning. Sometimes you win 13-10, sometimes you win 33-30. Trust me, it [doesn’t] matter – playing that team, the last time we played that team, we scored 24 points and lost. Trust me, this was a whole lot better feeling, scoring 16 anytime you get the win because that’s what we’re here for – we’re here to win.”
Leftwich, Brady, and the rest of the Tampa Bay offense will hope to keep the momentum of that game-winning drive going when they travel overseas this week to face the Seattle Seahawks in Munich.
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