Tom Brady takes to Instagram to toast Mike Evans’ three TD performance and the Bucs’ NFC South crown

With Sunday’s victory over the Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady recorded his 19th division title and 14th consecutive playoff appearance, neither of which came as a surprise given his career without Same.

What’s shocking is that Brady and the Bucs won the NFC South with a mediocre 8-8 record heading into the final week of the 2022 season, which means Brady is in danger of ending up with a losing record for the first time in his career. illustrious career of 23 years. .

Despite the Bucs’ struggles, Brady took to Instagram Sunday night to congratulate his teammates, while highlighting wide receiver Mike Evans’ three-touchdown, 207-yard performance.

Brady took to Instagram Sunday night to congratulate his teammates, while mentioning receiver Mike Evans’ three-touchdown, 207-yard performance.

“If they benched Mike Evans in their fantasy football playoffs, they should go home and look in the mirror for a long time,” Brady said. ‘It was an incredible match. NFC champions, we did it the hard way. Very proud of our team, our coaches, our organization and you the fans.

“But we know we have further to go,” Brady added. ‘LFG [Let’s f***ing go] to 2023. I can’t wait.

Brady threw for 432 yards and three long touchdowns to Evans, and the Bucs erased a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit for the second straight week to clinch their second straight NFC South championship with a 30-24 victory over the Panthers in Tampa. .

‘Every year you try to win the division and we win the division. It doesn’t matter how you win the division. I don’t have much left in my heart, but it feels great,” said coach Todd Bowles. We are in a place where we have to be. We can’t get to where we want to be unless we win the division. We won the division.

Evans finished with 10 receptions for 207 yards, scoring on receptions of 63, 57 and 30 yards and becoming the first player in NFL history to start a career with nine consecutive 1,000-plus receiving-yard seasons.

Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady (12) runs off the field after beating the Carolina Panthers

The TDs were the first for Evans since Oct. 2, a 12-game streak, and he increased his season total to six after scoring 14 times in 2021 and 13 two years ago, when Tampa Bay won the Super Bowl.

“We’ve fought a lot of tough stuff this year,” Brady said. ‘Happy to win the division. It’s always hard to do. NFL games are hard to win and we always find a way to keep them exciting. I wish they weren’t as exciting as we made them.

The Panthers (6-10) led 14-0 early and 21-10 after Sam Darnold’s third TD pass of the day, 10 seconds into the fourth quarter.

It was all Bucs from there, with Evans beating cornerback CJ Henderson for touchdowns twice and Darnold losing a fumble on a sack inside his own 10-yard line. That fumble set up Brady’s 1-yard TD run, who put the game out of range with 1: 58 left

The Bucs can end the regular season with a winning record if they beat Atlanta on the road next weekend. As division champions, they are assured of starting the playoffs with a home game in two weeks’ time.

“The playoffs start over for everyone,” Bowles said. ‘You have a three-game elimination tournament. No matter where you are. …At least we know we’ll be at the games. We just have to reduce the mistakes to win them.’

Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady (12) leaves the field late in the game against the Carolina Panthers at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on Sunday.

The Panthers, who had won four of six to return to playoff contention after firing coach Matt Rhule and star running back Christian McCaffrey, could have clinched their first NFC South title since 2015 by beating the Bucs and then win in New Orleans.

Instead, they ended up missing the playoffs for the fifth straight year. Among the priorities going into the offseason will be determining the future of interim coach Steve Wilks, as well as Darnold, who will be an unrestricted free agent.

“Obviously we knew what we were playing. … We were there,” Darnold said. “In the end, we just couldn’t make it.”

Darnold passed for 341 yards, three touchdowns, and one interception. He also lost two fumbles and fell to 3-2 since he became Carolina’s starter over Thanksgiving weekend.

A week after rushing for 320 yards and three touchdowns in a 37-23 win over Detroit, the Panthers rode Darnold’s arm to their early 14-0 lead and were in complete control until Brady found Evans running down the field. right wing for a 63-yard catch. -and-run to get the Bucs going.

Mike Evans celebrates after scoring during the second half of Sunday’s win over Carolina

Two plays later, Darnold mishandled a shotgun snap and compounded the error by missing when he tried to pick up the ball, leaving linebacker Devin White to recover the fumble at the Carolina 13-yard line.

Ryan Succop’s 22-yard field goal cut Tampa Bay’s deficit to 14-10 just before halftime, but the Bucs blew an opportunity to get close, or possibly take the lead, when a 90-yard drive stalled inside. from the Panthers 10-yard line and Succop had a 26-yard Field Goal Attempt blocked.

Darnold completed 23 of 37 passes with touchdowns of 17 yards to Tommy Tremble, 24 yards to DJ Moore, and 19 yards to Shi Smith, the latter putting Carolina up 21-10. Meanwhile, the Panthers rushed for just 74 yards as D’Onta Foreman was held to 35 yards on 13 carries and Chuba Hubbard was held to 20 yards on five attempts.

‘Very frustrating. We worked hard to get to this position. Nobody was going to give us anything or give us anything,” Foreman said.

‘We fight hard. Nobody gave up. Everyone knew what the task was,” Foreman added. “Unfortunately, that’s part of the NFL. Sometimes it just doesn’t work.