The discussion is one that tends to show up at least a handful of times throughout the NFL season. Yet, never has anyone seen the question arise multiple times in the same weekend–”Was that the game of the year?”. On Sunday, football fans everywhere were left to ponder that thought twice in the same day.
The National Football League kicked off its second weekend of playoff football Saturday afternoon with the Divisional Round and it did not disappoint for one second. After having a few blowouts games occur, largely between top seeds and bottomfeeder teams that just snuck into the playoff picture, all four contests of the second round were absolute nail biters that came down to the bitter end and were decided on last second field goals or overtime scores. One of the games featured another unreal comeback from 24-down and another saw 25 points scored in two minutes, a chance to tie in 13 seconds, and unbelievable heartache for the losing franchise left deprived once again of championship football.
Of course, flowers will be handed out to the Cincinnati Bengals and San Francisco 49ers for their victories on Saturday. In their second season with head coach Zac Taylor and quarterback Joe Burrow, the young Bengals weathered the storm of two touchdowns by Tennessee’s Derrick Henry and AJ Brown by trusting the leg of rookie kicker Evan McPherson, who hit five total field goals and whose last sent the AFC 1-seed home and Cincinnati to their first conference championship game since 1988.
In the later slate, the San Francisco 49ers were fresh off their shocking victory over the Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card Round last Sunday, and ready to play the role again in frigid Green Bay. Having their defense limit Aaron Rodgers to 228 passing yards and the Packers offense to one rushing touchdown, the 49ers blocked a punt in the fourth quarter to tie the affair 10-10 with 4:41 remaining. The following possession for the visitors, kicker Robbie Gould joined McPherson in sending another 1-seed home by nailing a 45-yard kick to give his team the 13-10 upset.
However, what will remain the unforgettable games from a historic weekend in the NFL came on the second day. The Sunday docket featured two blockbuster matchups between four teams with high-powered offenses and stockpiled defenses that were bound to be decided by which team could outduel the other. Basically, that’s what it took to ultimately get our advancers to the succeeding round.
Rams vs. Buccaneers
For the NFC divisional game, the Los Angeles Rams traveled cross country to face Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the latter looking to advance to their second consecutive conference title game.
The Rams came in fresh off their 34-11 rout of Arizona in the Wild Card hungry to repeat their offensive downpour with a unit that finished ninth in league rankings at the end of the regular season. No doubt they had a tall task ahead of them having to face the NFL’s greatest quarterback in Brady let alone the Bucs’ second-ranked offense averaging 30.1 points per game and a defense that was middle of the pack but allowing around 20 points per game.
Early on Los Angeles was not flustered by the sounds of the cannons firing off to welcome the defending Super Bowl champions pregame at Raymond James Stadium as they piled up the points to quickly silence the Tampa Bay celebrations. Behind the 28 completion, 366 yards and two touchdown performance by quarterback Matthew Stafford, the Rams put the Bucs in 27-3 hole with three scores by the gunslinger, receivers Cooper Kupp and Kendall Blanton and a field goal by kicker Matt Gay.
Down 24-points on their home turf early in the third quarter, things felt grim for the Bucs’ faithful who saw their defense look exposed and future Hall-of-Fame quarterback get banged up on nearly every snap and rise up mentally aggravated. Yet, for anyone who truly knows Tom Brady and his history in these types of matchups, another classic age-defying comeback was not out of the realm of possibility. In fact, as the 44-year-old Brady began to turn it on and the Rams had sudden turnover woes, the entire world watching began to see it unfold before our eyes again.
The Bucs tacked on a 31-yard field goal by Ryan Succop to cut the deficit to 27-6 late in the third quarter, but they needed something more to make the Rams’ lead feel a little less comfortable. They got it the following play when Stafford threw a short pass to Kupp who carried it for three yards before fumbling it into the hands of Bucs’ corner Sean Murphy-Bunting for the turnover.
At that moment, with 2:45 left in the quarter and the ball at the LA 30-yard line the air inside Raymond James changed towards the unthinkable. The Bucs marched towards the endzone in seven plays and runningback Leonard Fournette–dubbed “Playoff Lenny” by his teammates–ran it in for the touchdown to make it 27-13 Rams.
Both teams exchanged turnover pleasantries on the next several possessions to maintain the two score difference with four minutes remaining in the final frame. Then, it was time for Brady to turn on the fourth quarter monster inside him and put the Rams and the NFL world on their heels. On second down-and-7 from the Bucs 45, Brady unleashed one 55 yards to Mike Evans for the touchdown and the 27-20 deficit.
On the Rams next possession, their fumbling problems struck again as Cam Akers was met by Ndamukong Suh who forced the ball out and it was recovered by Lavonte David at the LA 30-yard line. Suddenly, the Rams were about to be the latest victims of the Brady comeback, and the Bucs made it official as Leonard Fournette cashed in a second score to cap up a 7-play drive and it was 27 all with 45 seconds left.
Still, as if the game wasn’t thrilling enough, there was one more big play to be made and this time it wasn’t by Brady. Stafford and the Rams started at their own 25-yard line with 42 seconds left and their first play was a 1 yard sack to set them back and force the burning of their final timeout. With about 70 yards of field to go before reaching Gay’s field goal range, an over time period seemed and a likely disappointing ending for the Rams seemed imminent.
Then to everyone’s dismay, Stafford and his trusty receiver put an end to the former’s big game playoff losing history. On second down, Stafford found Kupp for a 20-yard completion to the Rams’ 44. The next play the duo found their magic again to give the Bucs a taste of their own medicine as Stafford deep balled a 44-yard pass to Kupp (9 rec., 183 yards, 1 TD) who was tackled down at the Tampa Bay 12 with the game winning score in easy reach. Matt Gay sent his 30-yard boot through the uprights as time expired to give the Rams a 30-27 advance to the NFC chip and the Bucs were finished.
The unforgettable finish marks the end of Brady’s 22nd season in the NFL, whose offseason now brings a boatload of speculation and uncertainty as to his future with the Bucs and the game in general. Prior to the game, an ESPN story by Jeff Darlington and Adam Schefter was released that reported Brady’s desire to “mull over” committing to football in 2022. The report said Brady—who will be 45 next season—wants to take time to “assess how he feels physically and mentally while also gauging his family’s desires”.
Brady is currently on a contract extension with the Bucs that he signed over the summer that ties him to the organization until the end of the 2022 season. The 7-Time Super Bowl champion has said in the past he would like to play to age 45, or even beyond, but for this moment he is noncommittal to the conversation.
The report said Brady—who will be 45 next season—wants to take time to “assess how he feels physically and mentally while also gauging his family’s desires”.
Brady is currently on a contract extension with the Bucs that he signed over the summer that ties him to the organization until the end of the 2022 season. The 7-Time Super Bowl champion has said in the past he would like to play to age 45, or even beyond, but for this moment he is noncommittal to the conversation.
“I haven’t put a lot of thought into it, so you know, we will just take it day by day and kind of see where we are at,” said Brady.
“Truthfully guys, I’m thinking about this game. I’m not thinking about anything past five minutes from now.”
Brady will have more than enough time to think about his career over the next several months as the Bucs’ 2021 run ends two games short of the Super Bowl. If the feeling is right, it doesn’t seem their general run is over just yet.
