Football

Yet another NFL record fell at the hands of Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady on Monday night.

With the Bucs trailing the New Orleans Saints 16-3 deep in the fourth quarter, Brady threw touchdown passes to tight end Cade Otton and running back Rachaad White inside the final three minutes to give Tampa a 17-16 win and himself his 44th career fourth-quarter comeback.

According to ESPN's Jenna Laine, that broke a tie with legendary Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning to give Brady the most fourth-quarter comebacks by an quarterback in NFL history.

The 45-year-old Brady has been used to playing ahead for most of his career, especially during his 20-year stint with the New England Patriots, but he has staged his fair share of dramatic comebacks as well.

Monday marked Brady's 328th career regular-season start, and he now owns a record of 249-79. Monday's comeback was not only the 44th of his career, but also his second of the season.

Brady has at least one fourth-quarter comeback in every season since 2001 with the exception of 2008, which was the season in which he suffered a torn ACL in the first game.

The comeback against New Orleans was perhaps among the most unlikely of his career, since he has struggled against the Saints during his time in Tampa and had never completed a comeback of 13 or more points in the fourth quarter of a regular-season game.

In fact, Brady's only fourth-quarter comeback from down 13 or more points in the fourth quarter before Monday was Super Bowl LI when the Patriots shocked the Atlanta Falcons in overtime, overcoming a 28-3 deficit overall.

So far this season, wins have not been as easy to come by for Brady and the Bucs.

The win against New Orleans improved Tampa Bay's record to 6-6 on the year. With five games remaining, Brady has already suffered more losses this season than in any season since 2009 when he and the Pats finished 10-6.

Brady has never finished with a losing record in his career, and Monday's win helped him take a big step toward keeping that remarkable stat intact.

While a 6-6 record would normally be cause of concern in terms of missing the playoffs, Brady and the Buccaneers are actually sitting pretty in the agonizingly bad NFC South.

At 6-6, the Bucs hold a 1.5-game lead over the Atlanta Falcons for first place in the division, and it is difficult to envision Tampa falling from that spot despite its issues this season.

A loss to the Saints would have left the Bucs at 5-7 and only a half-game ahead of the Falcons, though, meaning the 44th fourth-quarter comeback of Brady's career could prove to be one of his biggest.

Tom Brady's career is the NFL equivalent of the often-used Undertaker GIF. Just when everyone thinks it's OK to finally bury the veteran, he rises to the occasion. Eventually, even Mark Calaway was forced to retire the gimmick after a long and fruitful run. Before then, he provided memorable moment after memorable moment.

Remarkably, Brady on Monday did something he had never accomplished after it looked like the New Orleans Saints had his number once again. In the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 17-16 victory the 45-year-old future Hall of Famer threw for the last score with only eight seconds remaining at the snap—which marked the latest game-winning touchdown pass in Brady's historic career, according to ESPN Stats & Info.

"Just like we drew it up," Brady joked with reporters after the contest.

The Bucs now own a 6-6 record and 1.5-game lead in the NFC South. Brady's helping to pull another win from the jaws of defeat serves as a double-edged sword.

Simple appreciation of what he's done must be savored now, because his career will be over relatively soon. Conversely, the win sets up disappointment down the road.

On the positive side, Brady's teams have benefited with him behind center. Monday's result was the 44th comeback victory for the three-time league MVP, which broke a tie between Brady and his old rival, Peyton Manning. The performance also was the second instance of a Brady-led squad's winning after trailing by 13 or more points in the fourth quarter. The other? Super Bowl LI. (Sorry, Atlanta Falcons fans.)

The outcome and how it came about shouldn't blur who the Buccaneers are, though. Brady's potential last dance is fraught with obstacles.

Before looking toward the long term, Tampa Bay must handle business in the coming weeks. The schedule is manageable with an upcoming meeting against the San Francisco 49ers—when this year's Mr. Irrelevant, quarterback Brock Purdy, will make his first career start—and teams with losing records to round out the final three weeks of play.

Aside from the Cincinnati Bengals game in Week 15, four of the five remaining contests are winnable. The Buccaneers could win 10 on their way to a second consecutive division title.

History shows they're capable of doing so. After a slow start to the 2020 season, Brady and Co. hoisted the Lombardi Trophy. A significant difference exists between then and now, though. That year, Brady had just signed with the organization and needed to build a rapport with his receivers and rhythm within the offense.

Now, Tampa Bay is clearly deficient in certain areas.

The offensive line is almost completely rebuilt from a year ago. Tristan Wirfs' ankle injury last week only exacerbated an already glaring issue. The losses of left guard Ali Marpet (retirement), right guard Alex Cappa (free agency) and center Ryan Jensen (knee injury) created a lack of continuity up front front. Even bringing in Shaq Mason can do only so much when the unit is playing together for the first time and continuing to evolve.

A byproduct of rebuilding an offensive line on the fly is a significant downturn in the running game. At 73.3 rushing yards per contest, Tampa Bay owns the league's worst ground game by a significant margin (11.4 yards to be exact).

Furthermore, Brady is having one of the worst years of his career when it comes to pushing the ball down the field. The Buccaneers had one of the league's best wide receiver corps over the last two seasons, especially with Mike Evans on the outside since he's an elite vertical threat.

Yet the quarterback's 31 completion percentage on throws 20 or more yards down the field entering Monday's contest was Brady's worst since the '14 campaign, per ESPN. Brady missed multiple deep attempts against the Saints and didn't help to stretch the field. Only one connection, to Evans, was over 20 yards.

Instead, defenses are now constricting the playing area. They don't have to worry much about Tampa Bay's running attack or the threat of a big play. Brady also can't lean on the tight end position as much after his favorite target, Rob Gronkowski, retired.

Even so, Tampa Bay found a win to win...with a little help from New Orleans.

"I wish we would score more points against them," Brady said. "They make it really hard."

In the Saints' case, Dennis Allen's squad had the game in hand bud lost because of poor late-game management and mental mistakes. New Orleans had two opportunities to close out the contest. All it had to do was sustain a drive.

With 6:11 remaining and a 13-point lead, Mark Ingram II inexplicably ran out of bounds short of a first down without being touched. On the next play, 3rd-and-1 from Tampa Bay's 44-yard line, the Saints threw an incomplete pass instead of just running the ball. The Buccaneers responded with a 91-yard drive for their first touchdown.

During the following series, New Orleans went three-and-out with a pair of pass calls, including a sack on second down.

The Saints lost this meeting as much as the Buccaneers earned the victory. The setup is important, because it shows how fortunate Tampa Bay was to reach .500. Todd Bowles' group isn't playing particularly well, and a late-game rally doesn't portend a significant postseason run.

As for Brady and where he goes from this point, much will be decided in the offseason. The 23-year veteran isn't under contract beyond this season. He has said he would like to play until at least 2024, though his highly publicized divorce from Gisele Bündchen could change that.

If the NFL's all-time leading passer chooses not to return after this season, the type of moments seen from him Monday may never happen again with only five regular-season games left to play. Brady will walk away as the greatest player of all time. He's earned that designation. But he's no different than any professional athlete who preceded him. Eventually, Father Time wins.

A void will be left without the seven-time Super Bowl champion. But it's far from time to let his career rest. Brady appears to have one more age-defying stand left in him, and everyone should enjoy it for as long as it lasts.

Brent Sobleski covers the NFL for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, @brentsobleski.

The NFL Pro Bowl will look different this year, and the unique coaching matchup was revealed.

During the ManningCast of the Monday Night Football game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New Orleans Saints, Peyton and Eli Manning revealed they will serve as head coaches of the AFC and NFC squads for the flag football games:

Peyton, who played for the Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos, will coach the AFC, while the NFC will be coached by Eli, who spent his entire career with the New York Giants.

The 2023 Pro Bowl Games will take place on Sunday, Feb. 5, and will feature three seven-on-seven flag football games. Preceding the games will be a weeklong series of competitions. The Manning brothers will be tasked with determining the lineups for the games and who will be participating in the skills competitions.

According to a press release, "Points are cumulative across skills competitions and first two flag games, with the third and final flag game determining the ultimate winner."

For what it's worth, the Manning brothers faced off three times in their NFL careers, with Peyton winning all three matchups.

The New Orleans Saints have not had the 2022 season they were hoping for, but they reached a new low with an embarrassing 17-16 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday Night Football.

The Saints (4-9) had taken a 13-point lead early in the fourth quarter and looked to be cruising to victory, which would have been crucial for the team's hopes to stay alive in the race for the NFC South. However, New Orleans allowed 14 points in the final three minutes to allow Tampa Bay to escape.

Tom Brady and the Buccaneers (6-6) wore down the Saints defense with 10- and 11-play drives to steal the victory. New Orleans wasted a clean performance from quarterback Andy Dalton, who threw for 229 yards and a touchdown on 20-of-28 passing and is now 0-13 in primetime games on the road.

NFL Twitter lit up the Saints for their "epic" collapse, with many calling for changes within the organization:

The Saints have been beset by injuries to multiple key players, but this loss was inexcusable. Had the defense not run out of gas, New Orleans would've been in a surprising position to fight for the division crown.

The Saints don't have many solutions available at the moment, but they will try to regroup during their bye in Week 14 before returning to action with another division matchup, against the Atlanta Falcons, on Dec. 18.

It looked like it was finally safe to count out Touchdown Tom.

Until it wasn't.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were lost on offense for the majority of Monday's NFC South showdown against the New Orleans Saints at Raymond James Stadium, but Tom Brady threw two touchdown passes in the final three minutes to help them earn a dramatic 17-16 victory.

Tampa Bay is somehow in full control of the NFC South at 6-6, which is a testament to the dreadfulness of the division more than anything else. But Brady and Co. have now won three of their last four and are in line to host a playoff game after he connected with Rachaad White for a six-yard score with three seconds left.

Social media naturally featured plenty of reactions to the GOAT's latest highlight:

Brady has had more impressive comebacks throughout his career—28-3, anyone?—but Monday's was shocking given the way the first 57 minutes unfolded.

The Tampa Bay crowd loudly booed throughout much of the contest as the offense managed just three points in a first half in which Brady threw an ugly interception to Demario Davis. And then White lost a fumble on the Bucs' opening possession of the second half.

Later, it was head coach Todd Bowles' turn to draw the boos, as he elected to punt on 4th-and-7 from the New Orleans 40 with the score 13-3 on the first play of the fourth quarter.

It looked hopeless for the Buccaneers, but hope is never lost with Brady.

With five minutes to play, he marched the offense 91 yards in just more than two minutes, capping the drive with a one-yard touchdown pass to Cade Otton. After the defense forced a three-and-out, Brady took advantage of one final chance with an 11-play, 63-yard drive that took just under two-and-a-half minutes.

Next up for the Buccaneers is a road matchup against the San Francisco 49ers as they look to build on Monday's win.