Tom Brady

The story of Tom Brady's career will include countless chapters of individual and team brilliance.

Sunday's second half will not be one of those chapters.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers seemed to be in cruise control with a 17-0 lead at home against the Cincinnati Bengals. And then the visitors ripped off 34 straight points and left Raymond James Stadium with a 34-23 victory.

Cincinnati has won six in a row and is now in first place in the AFC North at 10-4. Tampa Bay is somehow still in first place in the abysmal NFC South at 6-8, but it is 1-3 in the last four and trending in the wrong direction ahead of the season's final push.

While this was billed as a potential passing-of-the-torch game between Tom Brady and Joe Burrow, the story was Tampa Bay's four turnovers in one of the worst halves of football an offense could possibly play. The turnover-fueled collapse opened the door for the comeback and drew plenty of reaction on social media:

It looked like Tampa Bay may have turned the corner during a first half that saw Brady throw touchdowns to Russell Gage and Chris Godwin while Carlton Davis III picked off Burrow.

However, this is what happened in the second half:

• Tampa Bay botches punt or fake punt snap; Bengals turn it into a field goal
• Brady throws an interception to Tre Flowers; Burrow throws a touchdown to Tee Higgins
• Brady loses a fumble on a sack; Burrow throws a touchdown to Tyler Boyd
• Brady fumbles on handoff exchange to Leonard Fournette; Burrow throws a touchdown to Ja'Marr Chase
• Brady throws an interception to Germaine Pratt

Just like that, the Bengals were ahead by double digits and never looked back.

Tampa Bay will look to get back on track on Christmas Day against an Arizona Cardinals team that is missing Kyler Murray, but Sunday's loss will surely linger.

Despite speculation that Tom Brady could return for a 24th year in 2023, there's a growing belief from NFL insiders he will walk away at the end of this season.

Per The Athletic's Mike Jones, a majority of insiders "believe" Brady will likely retire when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' season wraps up.

Prior to the Bucs' game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero reported Brady "feels good enough to keep playing" and is keeping all of his options on the table.

Brady flirted with retirement at the end of last season. The seven-time Super Bowl champion announced on Feb. 1 he was walking away from the sport, but he changed his mind on March 13.

This season has been a challenge for Brady and the Bucs. The 15-time Pro Bowler is still playing well with 3,585 passing yards and 17 touchdowns. He leads the league in completions (381) and attempts (579).

Injuries and poor performances at other positions have caused all sorts of problems for the offense. They have the fifth-worst scoring offense in the NFL with 17.2 points per game entering Week 15.

Tampa Bay has scored fewer than 20 points in each of its last three games. It only did that five times in the previous two seasons combined.

Given the state of the Buccaneers' roster and already being $40 million over the 2023 salary cap, it would seem unlikely that Brady returns to the team next season if he does continue playing.

There are several teams that could potentially be looking for a new quarterback during the offseason. Jones listed the 49ers, New York Jets, New England Patriots, Las Vegas Raiders and Tennessee Titans as potential landing spots for Brady.

While there will be a lot of focus on what Brady does after the season, the Bucs are still in the running for a playoff spot. They lead the NFC South by one game, despite having a 6-7 record.

If Sunday's matchup didn't make it clear, Tampa Bay Buccaneers star Tom Brady is trending in the wrong direction and San Francisco 49ers star Christian McCaffrey is trending in the right one.

Madden NFL 23 announced its latest batch of player ratings updates Thursday, and McCaffrey is the headliner. The running back jumped to a 96 overall, which makes him the second-best back in the game:

Only Nick Chubb of the Cleveland Browns (98 overall) is rated higher at the position.

McCaffrey made the one-point jump and moved ahead of Tennessee Titans star Derrick Henry (95 overall) after a brilliant performance during Sunday's dominant 35-7 win over Tampa Bay. He ran for 119 yards and one touchdown on 14 carries and added 34 yards and another score on two catches.

The do-everything back will be even more important for San Francisco with Deebo Samuel sidelined because of knee and ankle injuries and the inexperienced Brock Purdy under center, and he will have the opportunity to keep the momentum rolling in Thursday's matchup against the Seattle Seahawks.

Seattle just gave up 223 yards and two scores on the ground in its loss to the Carolina Panthers, so McCaffrey could be in for a monster game.

Brady was on the other sideline of that 35-7 blowout, and the Buccaneers quarterback saw his rating drop to 90 overall.

Brady is a legend and widely accepted as the best quarterback in NFL history, but this season has not been particularly kind to the Buccaneers offense. Tampa Bay is an ugly 28th in the league at 17.2 points per game and managed just one touchdown against the 49ers.

The seven-time Super Bowl champion went 34-of-55 for 253 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in the loss.

While the future Hall of Famer did throw two touchdowns in each of the previous three games, his rating took a hit after his team was blown out by Purdy and the 49ers. At least he can take solace knowing Tampa Bay's 6-7 record is good enough for first place in the dreadful NFC South.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady denied a report that he adjusts the team's offensive plan without coaches' input before every game.

"No," Brady said in his Thursday press conference, per ProFootballTalk's Mike Florio. "I have no idea. I mean, anybody can write anything, and say whatever they want. So, no. ... I'm not gonna respond to every—next question."

NFL insider Michael Silver wrote in a recent article for the San Francisco Chronicle that Brady "runs a separate meeting with the Bucs' skill players" the night before every game and "goes over the game plan, makes tweaks to assignments and formations and provides a revised blueprint" that head coach Todd Bowles and the Bucs staff don't know about until it is being executed on game day.

Bowles also refuted the report earlier this week, via the team's official website:

"No, we know what's going on in the meeting and we know all the tweaks. The defensive guys meet by themselves as well. We have several position groups that meet by themselves as well to get on the same page together before a game. That's nothing … That's not new."

Even if Brady is making "tweaks" to Tampa Bay's offensive game plan, it hasn't resulted in much improvement. While the Bucs are averaging 338.6 yards per game—265.7 yards passing and 72.9 yards rushing—they rank 28th in the NFL in scoring, averaging just 17.2 points per game.

Additionally, it's worth wondering if Brady should be making adjustments in the first place. His resume, which includes seven Super Bowl titles and three MVP awards, speaks for itself, but Bowles is in his first season as head coach, and it's possible the offense is struggling without one concrete plan in place.

Tampa Bay's offensive struggles have resulted in the team posting a 6-7 record following a brutal 35-7 loss to rookie seventh-round pick Brock Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.

Since the NFC South has been so bad this season, the Bucs are still first place in the division, occupying the NFC's fourth playoff seed. But if things don't change, they could be blown out come playoff time.

The Buccaneers have matchups against the 9-4 Cincinnati Bengals, 4-9 Arizona Cardinals, 5-8 Carolina Panthers and 5-8 Atlanta Falcons to close out the season. Tampa Bay's matchups with two divisional opponents could prove to be hugely important to the team's postseason hopes.

Joe Burrow has drawn some comparisons to Tom Brady throughout his young career for his style of play and immediate NFL success, but the Cincinnati Bengals star doesn't make a big deal of it.

"I don't really pay attention to it. He's Tom and I'm Joe," Burrow said Wednesday, per Geoff Hobson of the team's official site.

"I really just think that I play the game my own way. I kind of have a little bit of everybody. I wouldn't say there's one thing I do the best. But I would say that I do everything with the best of them. I wouldn't say I really have a glaring weakness."

Burrow has emerged as one of the top young quarterbacks in the NFL, leading the Bengals to the Super Bowl last season in just his second year in the league. He was ranked the No. 5 quarterback in the NFL in a poll of league personnel before the season, with one offensive coach saying he "might be the closest thing" to Brady.

Former Brady teammates Kevin Faulk, Ted Karras and Alex Cappa discussed the comparisons this week for Jay Morrison and Paul Dehner Jr. of The Athletic. Burrow also admitted there were some similarities in their game.

"I have the quick release," the quarterback said. "I've become really efficient with my lower body, getting the ball out and seeing the defense."

The Bengals are set to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, giving Burrow the first chance to go head-to-head against Brady.

Tom Brady's former teammate Rob Gronkowski believes the veteran quarterback will thrive as a Fox Sports analyst once he retires from the NFL.

"Tom's gonna kill it. ... He knows football like no other," Gronkowski told TMZ Sports. "He can break down any player at any time. He'll just present it to the screen, showing the strength and weaknesses. He can talk football like no other."

As for when Gronk thinks his old pal will retire, that remains to be seen.

"That dude's a beast," he said of the 45-year-old Brady. "He can go forever."

He joked that Brady could play until he was 68, but it hasn't looked like it this season. Brady has thrown for 3,585 yards, 17 touchdowns and five interceptions, completing 65.8 percent of his passes and taking 18 sacks. The Bucs are just 6-7, though they're still in first place in the awful NFC South.

It will be the first time since 2009 that Brady hasn't won 11 games as a team's starting quarterback, although the Bucs' issues run far deeper than him.

Six months after announcing his retirement from the NFL, Danny Amendola says he would be willing to come back for one specific player.

Appearing on The Herd with Colin Cowherd (h/t Dan Lyons of Sports Illustrated), Amendola said he would "absolutely" return if Tom Brady called him.

"Tom's done a lot for me, and if he needs me, I'd always play for Tom," he added.

When the Buccaneers signed Cole Beasley in September, Amendola said on Inside the NFL he never got a call to join the team:

Beasley was only with Tampa for two weeks before announcing his retirement. The 33-year-old ended his retirement on Tuesday when he was signed by the Buffalo Bills to join their practice squad.

Amendola and Brady spent five seasons together with the New England Patriots from 2013 to 2017. They had a terrific connection on the field, with Amendola ranking eighth among all Patriots players in passes caught from Brady (271).

The Patriots played in three Super Bowls during that five-season stretch, winning twice. Amendola led all players with 152 receiving yards in New England's 41-33 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 52.

Amendola left the Patriots as a free agent in March 2018 when he signed a two-year deal with the Miami Dolphins. He remained a productive player, but his run with New England was the most high-profile stretch of his career.

After stints with the Dolphins, Detroit Lions and Houston Texans, Amendola officially announced his retirement on July 25.

At the time of his announcement, Amendola had offers on the table from multiple teams to continue playing.